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SUNDAY  SCHOOL 

TEACHER 

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Prof.  H.BiHamiii 


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BV  1534  .H33  1911 
Hamill,  H.  M.  1847-1915. 
The  Sunday  school  teacher 


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SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TEACHER 


BY 
PROF.  H.  M.  HAMILL,  D.D. 

Superintendent  of  Training  Work, 
M.  E.  Church,  South. 


THfR  TIE  TH  THO I  rSA  ND. 


Chicago;  New  York;  Toronto: 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY, 

London  and  Edinbusg. 

MCMXI. 


Copyright,  1901, 

BY 

The  Book  Agents  of  the 

Methodist  Episcopal 

Church,  South. 


INTRODUCTORY. 

The  purpose  of  this  book  is  not  strictly  pedagog- 
ical, but  relates  rather  to  the  practical  work  of  the 
Sunday  school  teacher.  Severely  trained  in  the  vo- 
cation of  the  secular  teacher,  afterwards  called  for 
many  years  to  the  work  of  a  Sunday  school  special- 
ist, the  writer  has  noted  that  most  of  our  Sunday 
school  teachers  have  little  time  or  inclination  for  a 
study  of  the  science  of  teaching.  As  busy  week  day 
workers  in  home  and  office,  store  and  farm,  their 
limitations  are  such  that  they  cannot  hope  to  com- 
pete in  pedagogic  equipment  with  those  whose  life 
work  is  to  teach.  Nor  should  it  be  expected  of  them, 
in  view  of  the  wide  differences  between  the  secular 
and  the  Sunday  school  teacher.  What  the  latter 
needs  and  covets  is  the  art  rather  than  the  science  of 
teaching.  This  need  has  been  kept  steadily  in  mind 
in  the  preparation  of  this  little  book,  which  is  the 
outgrowth  of  fellowship  with  hosts  of  Sunday  school 
teachers  whose  sincere  ambition  is  to  teach  skillful- 
ly the  Holy  Scriptures.  That  it  may  prove  helpful 
to  these  faithful  servants  of  the  Church  is  my  ear- 
nest prayer.  H.  M.  Hamill. 

Nashville,  Tknn.,  December  1, 1901. 


CONTENTS. 

Page 

I.   THETEACHER'sWORK.«*»^H,.s>^-.;*rN        9 

"***    II.  The  Teacher's  HELPS.^-^rrrrrTTTTT . . . .  T  18 

~~  III.  The  Teacher's  Lesson  STUDY^rT-rr^^ .    25 

IV.  The  Teacher's  Lesson  Plan.  .-^^rrrr    31 

V.  The  Lesson  Half  Hour.  . »_.. ^  36 

VI.  The  Heart  op  the  Lesson .,.,„... .    46 

VII.  Principles  of  Teaching. ^^^ .    51 

VILI.  Teaching  Potnts—^^^  t r T  ..    57 

IX.  Class  Problems.- ,^_.    66 

X.  How  to  Secure  Attention  .„.^^*~**j-    78 

XI.  How  to  Question 81 

XII.  How  to  Review.  , .^7. .^^    88 

XIII.  Teaching  Little  Children.^^-*-?-?-^.    95 

XIV.  Teaching  Big  Boys  and  Girls 102 

XV.  Teaching  Young  Men  and  Women.  . . .  109 

XVI.  Teaching  Adult  Scholars ... 115 

XVII.  The  Teacher's  Training  Work.  ^^,^^121 
V£V1II.  The  Teacher's  Week  Day  Work™- ..  127 

XIX.  The  Teachers'  Meeting^ 134 

XX.  A  Teacher-Training  Department.  ,,.....  142 

—  >_XI.  A  Teachers'  Installation  Service 149 

2UTH.  A  Sunday  School  Teacher's  Library.  .  153 


THE  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TEACHER. 


The  Sunday  school  teacher,  by  warrant  of 
the  Scriptures  or  in  the  order  of  Providence,  is 
second  only  to  the  preacher.  His  commission 
is  directly  from  God,  and  his  place  of  useful- 
ness is  becoming  more  and  more  recognized  by 
the  Church.  "God  hath  set  some  in  the  Church, 
first  apostles,  secondarily  prophets,  thirdly 
teachers,  after  that  miracles,"  etc.  This  decla- 
ration of  Paul  is  worthy  of  the  modern  teacher's 
study.  The  ancient  order  of  "apostles"  has 
passed  away.  The  "prophets"  are  merged  into 
pastors.  The  teacher  in  the  pew  is  next  to  the 
man  in  the  pulpit;  and  the  working  of  mira- 
cles takes  lower  rank  than  the  teaching  of  a 
Sunday  school  class.  To  teach  at  all  is  a  work 
of  grave  responsibility;  but  to  teach  the  Bible 
to  childhood  and  youth,  in  the  one  formative 
period  of  life,  is  a  peculiarly  sacred  vocation. 
Our  Lord  is  fittingly  called  "the  Great  Teach- 
er;" and  the  Gospels  record  significantly  how 
he,  and  the  apostles  who  succeeded  him,  "  went 
about  teaching  and  preaching."  The  skilled 
Sunday  school  teacher,  trained  intellectually 
and  spiritually  for  his  great  work,  is  the  immi- 


8  The  /Sunday  ScJwol  Teacher, 

nent  need  of  the  home,  the  Church,  and  the 
State.  The  "signs  of  the  times,"  if  thought- 
fully interpreted,  abundantly  confirm  this  state- 
ment. By  the  neglect  of  the  home,  the  de- 
mands upon  the  Sunday  school  teacher  have 
multiplied.  The  Bible  has  passed  from  the 
secular  to  the  Sunday  school;  and  the  State,  so 
dependent  for  its  prosperity  upon  the  inculca- 
tion of  Bible  precepts,  must  look  to  the  Sun- 
day school  alone  for  religious  instruction  of  its 
youth.  The  Church,  slow  at  first  to  realize  its 
educational  and  evangelistic  opportunity,  has 
come  at  last  to  recognize  in  the  Sunday  school 
teacher  its  most  profitable  servant.  In  the  light 
of  these  multiplying  demands  the  Sunday  school 
teacher  must  do  his  work.  If  he  heed  the  calls 
to  a  larger  equipment  for  the  service  committed 
to  him,  the  blessing  of  God  and  his  Church  will 
be  upon  him  in  greater  power  than  ever  in  his 
past.  But  if  he  refuse  or  neglect,  "his  office 
let  another  take."  The  Church  of  the  next 
generation  will  see  to  it  that  its  teachers  are 
workmen  of  whom  "it  needeth  not  to  be 
ashamed." 


I.  THE  TEACHER'S  WORK. 


I.  As  a  Christian. 

The  teacher  who  is  not  a  Christian  in  deed  and 
in  truth  discredits  the  sacred  place  he  holds,  and 
"daubs  with  untempered  mortar."  His  first 
duty  is  to  get  right  with  God — that  is,  if  he 
intends  to  continue  teaching;  if  not,  there  is 
only  one  right  course,  he  should  resign.  But 
there  are  Christians  and  Christians,  and  the 
marks  of  the  true  Christian  teacher  should  be 
defined. 

1.  He  should  have  a  clear  and  definite  experi- 
ence. Out  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh. 
Like  begets  like  in  spiritual  as  in  other  things, 
and  the  Sunday  school  teacher  who  is  himself 
untaught  of  God  cannot  efficiently  teach  his 
class  the  way  of  life.  Such  is  the  free  grace  of 
God,  and  so  plain  are  the  teachings  of  his  Word, 
that  any  teacher  reading  these  lines,  and  know- 
ing that  his  life  is  not  right,  may,  in  one  short 
hour,  if  he  is  sincere  in  his  desire,  get  right  be- 
fore God,  the  Church,  and  his  class.  Educa- 
tional fitness  comes  slowly;  not  so,  however,  is 


10  Tlie  Sunday  School  7Jeacher. 

the  law  of  the  kingdom  of  grace.  He  that 
"confesseth  and  forsaketh"  his  sin  "  shall  find 
mercy." 

2.  He  should  have  an  earnest  purpose  to  save 
souls.  The  teacher  who  has  no  conversions  in 
his  class  is  an  anomaly.  To  save  the  scholars  is 
his  supreme  duty,  and  his  position  gives  to  him 
an  opportunity  beyond  that  of  even  parent  and 
pastor.  The  final  test  of  a  teacher  is  not  how 
well  he  has  studied  or  taught,  but  how  many  he 
has  saved. 

3.  The  truly  Christian  teacher  will  use  the 
"means  of  grace."  These  are  prayer,  almsgiv- 
ing, attendance  upon  the  services  of  the  Church, 
the  study  of  the  Bible  devotionally,  etc.  God 
has  instituted  these  means,  in  the  full  use  of 
which  there  is  spiritual  growth,  and  without 
which  there  will  be  leanness  of  soul. 

4.  The  teacher  must  exercise  self-denial.  When 
one  becomes  a  Sunday  school  teacher,  it  is  at 
once  a  question  of  example  to  others,  rather  than 
of  allowance  to  one's  own  conscience  in  things 
doubtful.  The  teacher,  for  the  sake  of  his  schol- 
ars, is  called  to  acts  of  self-denial  as  to  things 
which  his  conscience  may  justify  in  himself,  but 
which  might  offend  some  of  God's  little  ones. 
The  Pauline  law  of  offense  forever  sweeps  away 
all  questionable  amusements  and  self-indul- 
gences. 


The  Teacher's  Work.  11 

II.  As  a  Church  Member. 

1.  The  teacher  in  a  Sunday  school  should  be 
a  thoroughgoing  Church  member.  Each  Church 
stands  for  a  body  of  doctrine  and  a  polity  which 
differentiate  it  from  other  Churches.  To  be  a 
thorough  Church  member  is  to  believe  that  one's 
Church  is  first  and  best  among  Churches,  and  to 
indoctrinate  one's  scholars  in  that  belief.  There 
is  no  place  in  the  Sunday  school  for  teachers 
who  are  half-hearted  and  apologetic  when  the 
denominational  issue  is  raised.  A  teacher  is  the 
better  for  having  a  backbone  of  denominational 
conviction. 

2.  A  Sunday  school  teacher  should  be  an  in- 
telligent Church  member.  He  should  read  books 
upon  the  history  of  his  Church,  and  know  some- 
thing of  the  ordeals  through  which  it  has  passed 
and  of  the  triumphs  which  it  has  achieved.  He 
should  familiarize  himself  with  its  doctrine  and 
polity.  It  is  a  reproach  to  a  teacher  not  to  own 
and  to  study  some  book  containing  the  history 
and  standards  of  his  own  denomination. 

3.  He  should  be  aloyal  supporter  of  his  Church 
in  all  practical  ways.  Loyalty  means  more  than 
a  conviction  that  one's  Church  is  right,  and  a 
knowledge  of  its  doctrine  and  history.  It  means 
the  giving  of  money,  labor,  and  influence  to  its 
support  at  home  and  abroad,  in  the  way  of  pay- 


12  Tlie  Sunday  School  Teacher, 

ing  the  salary  of  the  pastor,  building  churches, 
extending;  its  home  and  foreign  missions.  It 
means  holding  up  the  pastor's  hands,  attending 
his  ministry,  working  for  one's  Church  and 
Sunday  school,  in  the  endeavor  to  make  them 
the  best  in  the  community.  The  teacher's  exam- 
ple for  good  in  this  respect  will  infect  his  schol- 
ars, and  he  will  grow  a  crop  of  loyal  and  helpful 
Church  members. 

III.  As  a  Bible  Student. 

1.  The  teacher  must  take  time  for  study.  A 
few  minutes  daily,  if  used  with  system,  wili 
accomplish  much.  Spasmodic  and  fitful  study 
avails  little.  Time  is  needed  for  meditation  and 
reflection.  Without  these  the  preparation  of  a 
lesson  will  be  superficial  and  without  power. 
There  ought  to  be  daily  study.  The  daily  habit 
once  formed,  the  study  intensifies. 

2.  It  should  first  be  a  study  of  the  Bible  itself \ 
without  the  "helps."  The  blunder  of  many 
teachers  is  the  preoccupation  of  the  mind  by  the 
studies  of  others  rather  than  by  one's  own  first 
study  of  the  Bible  text.  However  learned  the 
helper  may  be,  or  exhaustive  his  exposition 
of  the  Bible,  it  cannot  take  the  place  of  the 
teacher's  duty  to  himself  as  a  student ,  ' '  Knowl- 
edge is  power,"  but  it  is  one's  own  home-grown 


The  Teacher's  Work.  13 

knowledge  that  is  meant  in  that  time-honored 
maxim. 

3.  The  teacher  should  learn  to  think  for  him- 
self. He  needs  for  his  own  growth  to  force  his 
mind  and  heart  through  the  slow  and  sometimes 
painful  processes  of  thought.  The  one  who  ex- 
ercises grows.  He  cannot  attain  growth  as  a 
thinker  through  the  mental  exercise  of  another. 
Here  is  the  peril  of  many  teachers.  They  count 
on  being  good  thinkers  without  thinking,  and 
lapse  into  servitude  and  inefficiency. 

4.  The  teacher  should  first  apply  the  truth  of 
the  lesson  to  himself.  There  is,  or  ought  to  be, 
in  every  Sunday  school  lesson  something  which 
the  teacher  can  use  for  his  own  spiritual  nourish- 
ment. Who  feeds  another  should  have  a  care  to 
feed  himself.  The  fable  of  the  French  chef  who 
prepared  the  finest  food  for  the  guests,  yet  was 
found  dead  from  starvation,  is  an  illustration  of 
those  teachers  who  minister  to  the  souls  of  schol- 
ars, but  go  unnourished  by  the  Word  of  Life. 

5.  The  teacher  should  study  the  whole  Bible. 
Studying  the  weekly  lessons  is  studying  it  "in 
spots;"  and,  if  nothing  more  is  attempted,  wil. 
not  make  one  a  good  Bible  student.  The  student 
who  knows  a  whole  book  of  the  Bible  knows  bet- 
ter the  particular  lesson  that  may  be  taken  from 
it."  Each  book  in  itself  is  a  unit  of  doctrine  or 
history  or  prophecy,  and  is  part  of  a  yet  greater 


11  TJie  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

unity  in  the  whole  Bible.  The  life  of  the  aver- 
age teacher  is  not  too  short  or  his  condition  too 
severe  to  get  a  good,  well-rounded  knowledge  of 
the  entire  Bible.  No  matter  how  elementary 
this  general  knowledge,  it  will  add  much  to  the 
power  and  spirit  of  one's  teaching,  to  say  nothing 
of  the  joy  it  will  bring  to  the  student.  Week 
by  week,  every  teacher  ought  to  have  at  his  side 
for  moments  of  study  some  one  of  the  many  ex- 
cellent normal  courses  which  set  before  him,  in 
condensed  form,  this  general  view  of  the  Bible. 

IV.  As  a  Teacher. 

Teaching  is  an  art;  therefore  the  teacher  should 
strive  to  master  it.  There  are  three  ways  by 
which  a  teacher  may  learn  how  to  teach: 

1.  The  first  is  by  observation.  In  every  Sun- 
day school  there  is  some  one  (or  more)  who  ranks 
as  its  most  successful  teacher.  Observe  this  fin- 
est teacher,  and  discover  his  methods  of  teach- 
ing; study  his  way  of  getting  and  holding  at- 
tention; see  how  he  begins  his  teaching,  and  try 
to  find  out  his  plan  of  putting  the  truth;  note 
how  he  draws  out  his  scholars,  and  how  he  holds 
his  class  to  the  thought  of  the  day's  lesson. 
Watching  a  good  teacher  teach  is  a  fine  normal 
opportunity,  and  it  is  ready  at  hand  for  the  use 
of  every  one  who  seeks  improvement. 

2.  The  second  method  of  learning  is  by  prac- 


The  Teacher's  Work.  15 

Hce.  Practice  here,  as  elsewhere,  makes  perfect. 
No  amount  of  fine  theory  can  take  the  place  of 
the  inevitable  practice  that  must  assure  success. 
A  good  method  may  be  discovered  in  the  teach- 
ing of  another.  Take  it,  use  it,  and  watch  its 
effect  upon  your  scholars.  If  it  quickens  inter- 
est, continue  to  use  it;  if  not,  drop  it  and  try 
another.  Be  careful  that  you  attempt  only  what 
your  good  judgment  approves,  but  do  not  be 
afraid  to  make  experiments.  Edison  tried  a 
thousand  times  and  more  before  he  set  his  in- 
candescent light  agoing.  When  you  find  that 
you  have  a  good,  all-round  method  working  suc- 
cessfully, hold  to  it,  and  try  to  make  it  better. 
But  be  willing  to  practice  the  art  of  the  teacher 
painstakingly,  in  the  assurance  that  only  by  this 
slow  process  can  you  hope  to  attain  ease  and 
skill.  Be  sure  that  success  comes  not  by  a  single 
bound,  except  to  a  genius.  The  chances  are  that 
you  are  not  a  genius. 

3.  The  third  method  is  by  reading  books  on 
teaching.  There  are  several  such  books,  written 
by  past  masters  in  the  art  of  teaching.  The  cost 
is  small.  Get  one  of  these,  read  it  carefully, 
think  over  it,  compare  what  it  offers  with  your 
ways  of  teaching;  and  then  put  into  practice 
what  you  have  digested,  shaping  it  to  the  special 
needs  of  your  class.  The  foundation  principles 
of  teaching  will  be  found  in  most  of  these  books, 


16  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

One  good  book  on  teaching,  thoroughly  mas- 
tered, cannot  fail  to  make  you  a  better  teach- 
er. To  read  such  a  book  is  to  sit  at  the  feet  of 
some  teacher  of  large  experience,  and  have  him 
speak  into  your  ear  the  best  thought  of  a  lifetime 
of  labor  and  achievement. 

V.  As  a  Pastor. 

The  Sunday  school  teacher,  by  virtue  of  his  of- 
fice, is  an  under-pastor  of  the  Church,  supple- 
menting the  work  of  the  pastor  in  chief  along  all 
lines  of  pastoral  helpfulness  to  the  scholars  of 
his  class.     To  this  end: 

1.  He  must  be  a  safe  example.  Paul  admon- 
ished Timothy  to  "take  heed  unto  thyself,  and 
to  the  doctrine."  The  first  concern  of  a  teacher 
should  be  himself.  He  cannot  escape  being  an 
example.  He  will  be  closely  copied,  for  good 
or  evil.  What  is  evil  in  him  will  be  copied  most 
surely  and  closely.  There  is  nothing  truer  than 
the  homely  proverb:  "Like  teacher,  like  schol- 
ar." Let  not  the  teacher  delude  himself  by  as- 
suming that  a  safe  public  example,  in  the  eye  of 
the  class  and  while  on  duty,  is  enough.  He  is 
all  the  more  dangerous  as  a  leader  if  there  is 
anything  questionable  in  his  manner  of  life. 

2.  He  must  be  a  faithful  friend.  Anybody 
can  call  himself  "friend,"  but  a  truly  faithful 
friend  is  hard  to  find.     Such  friendship  does  not 


The  Teacher's  Work.  17 

court  popularity,  or  spend  itself  in  sentiment. 
It  does  not  shrink  from  telling  the  truth  in  love. 
It  keeps  guard  over  the  faults  of  one's  scholars, 
and  speaks  the  word  of  admonition  in  season  and 
in  private.  Paul  saw  the  weak  points  in  Timo- 
thy, and  helped  him  by  faithful  warning  to  over- 
come them.  Our  Lord  saw  the  crooked  things 
in  Peter's  life,  and  saved  him  out  of  them.  To 
set  a  safe  example  is  of  negative  value,  unless 
there  is  added  to  it  the  positive  endeavor  of  a 
faithful  friend  who  seeks  to  save  his  scholar? 
from  themselves. 

3.  He  must  " shepherd  his  flock"  He  carries, 
or  ought  to  carry,  the  marks  of  the  Good  Shep- 
herd upon  him.  He  "knows  his  sheep."  He 
' '  finds  pasture  for  them. "  His  sheep  '  *  know  his 
voice,"  and  are  known  of  him,  and  "follow 
him."  What  Christ  was  to  the  twelve,  the 
teacher  must  seek  to  be  to  his  scholar — teacher, 
companion,  friend,  overseer,  pastor!  Let  him 
strive  most  of  all  to  be  able  to  say  at  the  last,  as 
Christ  did  the  night  before  he  died:  "While  I 
was  with  them  in  the  world,  I  kept  them  in  thy 
name:  those  that  thou  gavest  me  I  have  kept, 
and  none  of  them  is  lost." 


n.  THE  TEACHER'S  HELPS. 

I.  Educationally. 

These  are  many  and  of  much  value.  Indeed, 
it  is  an  era  of  Sunday  school  helps,  every  prob- 
lem in  study  and  teaching  being  fully  discussed 
in  books  or  papers.  The  teacher  is  wise  who 
makes  his  helps  his  servants  and  not  his  masters. 

1.  A  Teacher's  Bible. — This  should  hold  the 
first  place  in  the  teacher's  use  and  affection. 
Such  a  Bible — the  Oxford,  Bagster,  Interna- 
tional, etc. — well-bound,  with  index,  concord- 
ance, table  of  pronunciation,  explanations, 
analysis  and  history  of  books,  is  a  lifelong  li- 
brary of  helpfulness  in  itself.  An  interleaved 
Bible,  costing  little  more,  will  be  found  of  serv- 
ice for  permanent  notes  and  additions. 

2.  Church  Helps. — These  should  take  the  first 
place,  after  the  Bible.  Every  Church,  through 
its  Sunday  school  department,  provides  such 
helps  for  its  own  teachers.  In  the  wide  range 
of  subjects  treated  and  in  the  ability  of  their 
editors  and  writers,  these  helps  stand  highest. 
Every  phase  of  Bible  study  or  of  Sunday  school 
method,  together  with  a  knowledge  of  the 
Church  and  its  doctrines,  is  given  by  them. 
The  teacher  owes  it  to  the  Church  for  which  he 

cm 


The  Teacher's  Helps.  19 

teaches,  and  to  the  work  he  is  called  by  it  to  do, 
to  equip  himself  with  the  helps  thus  liberally 
provided. 

3.  A  Teacher's  Normal  Library. — The  best 
workmen  use  few  tools,  but  they  must  be  of 
finest  quality.  So  a  few  well-chosen  books  upon 
the  teacher's  work  will  be  of  great  benefit.  Ev- 
ery Sunday  school  should  be  the  possessor  of  a 
normal  library,  if  only  a  few  well-selected  vol- 
umes. As  an  aid  to  school  or  individual  selec- 
tion, a  list  of  the  best  books  for  such  a  library  is 
given  elsewhere  in  this  book. 

4.  A  Teacher 's  Meeting \ — Whatever  helpfulness 
may  come  from  other  sources,  there  is  nothing 
better  than  the  old-fashioned  teachers'  meeting, 
where  safety  in  Bible  study  and  teaching  method 
is  to  be  found  in  a  "multitude  of  counselors." 
Nothing  can  take  the  place  of  this  heart-to-heart 
study.  If  one-third  of  the  session  could  be  de- 
voted to  a  consideration  of  the  school's  needs, 
another  third  to  bringing  out  the  best  "teaching 
points"  of  the  next  Sunday's  lesson,  and  the  re- 
maining third  to  the  reading,  in  course,  of  the 
normal  books  referred  to  above,  the  teachers' 
meeting  would  become  an  indispensable  help 
to  every  teacher. 

5.  Conventions  and  Institutes. — These  are  usu- 
ally held  in  every  city  or  State,  either  demon- 
inationally    or    interdemoninationally,    for    the 


20  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

study  of  improved  Sunday  school  methods. 
They  represent  the  best  Sunday  school  thought 
and  experience  of  the  Churches,  and,  because 
the  needs  of  all  teachers  are  substantially  the 
same,  such  meetings  are  in  large  degree  helpful 
in  stimulating,  suggesting,  and  explaining  meth- 
ods of  work.  Teachers  have  much  to  gain  and 
nothing  to  lose  in  attendance  upon  such  meet- 
ings. If  there  is  anything  in  Sunday  school 
work  better  than  one  has,  let  him  be  quick  to 
find  and  apply  it.  If  one  has  something  better 
than  others,  let  him  not  selfishly  withhold  it. 

II.  Socially. 

The  social  side  of  the  teacher's  work  is  an  im- 
portant factor  in  his  success.  Through  this  a 
permanent  influence  bearing  upon  the  scholar's 
life  is  secured  which  will  often  compensate  for 
inferior  skill  in  study  and  teaching. 

1.  The  Teachers  Manner. — First  comes  the 
teacher's  manner,  attracting  or  repelling,  in  and 
out  of  the  Sunday  school.  The  entrance  into  the 
scholar's  heart  and  conscience  is  usually  on  the 
social  side  of  his  life.  Does  the  teacher  culti- 
vate the  social  art?  Does  he  seek  to  utilize  it 
with  his  scholars?  Does  he  greet  them  gladly, 
with  warm  heart  and  hand?  Does  he  concern 
himself  about  their  home  and  school  life,  their 
petty  troubles  and   pleasures?     Does  he  make 


The  Teacher's  Helps.  21 

them  feel  at  home  in  his  presence?  Does  he 
court  a  passing  moment  with  them?  Does  he 
have  an  apt  and  cheery  word  with  them  when- 
ever they  meet?  Do  his  scholars  say,  as  one  did 
recently:  "I  know  my  teacher  loves  me,  because 
he  is  always  so  glad  to  see  me?"  If  the  answer 
to  these  questions  is  "Yes,"  it  is  well  with  the 
teacher;  if  not,  his  fine  study  and  teaching  will 
count  for  little. 

2.  The  Home  Influence. — This  is  a  strong  so- 
cial helper.  The  "short  cut"  to  a  boy's  man- 
agement runs  through  his  home.  The  teacher's 
occasional  talk  with  the  parents  of  his  scholars 
by  the  home  fireside  will  solve  most  of  the  diffi- 
cult problems  of  the  work.  It  is  tlie  "ounce of 
preventive."  A  frank  statement  of  the  teach- 
er's plans,  an  explanation  of  his  methods,  an 
earnest  appeal  for  parental  cooperation  in 
attendance,  study,  and  deportment,  will  set 
most  fathers  and  mothers  upon  the  teacher's 
gide. 

3.  The  Class  Spirit. — If  handled  wisely,  this 
is  a  strong  element  of  helpfulness.  It  is  well  to 
effect  a  class  organization,  with  its  officers,  rules, 
and  by-laws,  its  class  meetings  and  motto,  its 
plan  of  study,  etc.  Boys  and  girls  relish  a  sense 
of  responsibility,  and  a  class  is  best  conducted 
that  has  learned  to  manage  itself.  The  class 
spirit,  if  kept  in  bounds,  will  do  more  than  the 


22  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

teacher  can  do  to  stimulate  the  lazy  and  indif- 
ferent ones. 

III.   Spiritually. 

1.  TJie  Scholar's  Oo?iscience. — In  youth  this  is 
tender  and  sensitive.  It  is  quick  to  discern  be- 
tween the  right  and  the  wrong.  "The  light 
that  lighteth  every  one  that  cometh  into  the 
world"  is  the  fine  conscience  of  the  child.  Ed- 
ucation or  example  may  warp  it,  but  as  it  comes 
from  God  to  the  child  it  has  pure  instincts,  and 
will  prove  the  teacher's  strong  helper.  Let  the 
appeal  be  made  direct  to  the  childish  conscience 
in  matters  of  right  and  wrong.  Urge  the  plain 
Word  of  God  upon  it,  and  conscience  will  be 
quick  to  discern  and  to  respond.  The  child's 
conscience  is  upon  the  side  of  right  to  begin 
with,  whatever  its  parentage  or  home,  or  how- 
ever dulled  and  blunted  it  may  afterwards  be- 
come. Like  the  photographer's  plate,  it  is  sen- 
sitive to  every  ray  of  light,  but  its  sensitiveness 
may  soon  be  irreparably  gone. 

2.  Special  Prayer. — The  effectual,  fervent 
prayer  of  the  Sunday  school  teacher  availeth 
much.  One  by  one  each  scholar's  name  and 
needs  should  be  carried  before  a  loving  Christ 
in  earnest,  daily  prayer.  From  time  to  time  the 
teachers  of  the  school  should  convene  before  or 
aCter  the  session,  in  a  season  of  special  prayer 


The  Teacher's  Helps.  23 

foi-  the  scholars.  A  prayer  in  the  home  of  the 
scholar,  with  and  for  him,  may  seem  a  little 
thing,  but  it  is  not  forgotten  by  the  scholar. 
The  teacher  who  prays  much  for  his  scholars  is 
little  troubled  by  their  waywardness  and  inat- 
tention. Of  the  prayers  that  ascend  daily  to  the 
throne  of  grace,  surely  none  receive  more  loving 
audience  than  the  teacher's  prayer  for  the  schol- 
ars of  his  class. 

3.  The  Word  in  Season. — There  is  a  time  to 
speak  and  a  time  to  be  silent.  In  the  presence 
of  the  class,  upon  the  Sabbath  day,  a  truth  or 
duty  may  be  generally  urged.  But  the  wise  teach- 
er knows  the  value  and  helpfulness  of  a  moment's 
personal  word  in  the  ear  of  the  individual  scholar, 
where  there  is  none  but  God  to  hear.  Many  a 
career  has  been  turned  about  by  a  moment's  well- 
timed,  loving  plea.  Such  a  word,  fitly  spoken,  is 
"like  apples  of  gold  in  pictures  of  silver." 

4.  The  Holy  Spirit. — This  is  the  teacher's 
abiding  Helper.  Bending  over  him  as  he  studies 
the  lesson,  going  with  him  into  the  homes  of  the 
scholars,  standing  by  him  on  the  Sabbath  a3  he 
teaches,  comforting  him  as  he  prays  for  his  class, 
the  Holy  Spirit  is  ever  present  with  the  teacher 
who  lives  near  to  God  and  does  the  best  work 
his  opportunities  allow.  He  convinces  of  sin ; 
he  makes  the  lesson  a  two-edged  sword  to  cut 
into  the  conscience;  he  makes  anew  the  scholar's 


24  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

heart  and  life;  he  is  the  interpreting  Spirit;  he 
alone  can  indue  with  "power  from  on  high." 
To  every  true  teacher  this  Spirit  is  pledged  as 
Comforter  and  Friend,  and  with  his  help  failure 
is  impossible. 


in.  THE  TEACHER'S  LESSON  STUDY. 

I.  As  to  Time. 

1.  Study  Daily. — Fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
of  daily  study  of  next  Sunday's  lesson  is  better 
than  hours  massed  together  upon  a  single  day. 
Study  cannot  be  forced  at  the  last  moment.  It 
takes  time  for  it  to  grow. 

2.  Study  When  Freshest. — The  evening  hour, 
when  body  and  mind  are  worn  by  the  day's  la- 
bors, is  the  least  profitable  for  Bible  study.  Set 
a  time  early  in  the  day,  before  business  begins, 
and  there  will  be  gain  educationally  and  spir- 
itually. 

3.  Begin  at  Once. — Begin  Sunday  afternoon, 
while  heart  and  mind  are  warm  with  the  lesson 
just  taught.  A  good  beginning  tends  toward  a 
good  ending.  Do  not  procrastinate.  The  bane 
of  many  teachers  is  in  waiting  for  "a  more  con- 
venient season." 

4.  Form  a  Habit  of  Study.— -The  mind  is  as 
much  a  creature  of  habit  as  the  body.  It  does 
its  best  work  periodically.  The  habit  of  daily 
study  of  the  Bible  at  a  definite  hour  soon  be- 
comes a  source  of  pleasure  and  of  power.  But 
it  takes  a  determined  will  and  much  patience  to 
hold  one's  self  to  the  habit. 

C25) 


26  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

II.   As  to  Lesson  Helps. 

1.  A  Bible  Dictionary. — Next  to  a  Teacher's 
Bible,  this  is  the  teacher's  best  help.  It  deals 
with  the  Bible  topically,  and  gives  needed  light 
upon  doubtful  matters. 

2.  The  Teacher's  Commentary. — Every  Church 
supplies  such  a  commentary  upon  the  current 
lessons  for  its  teachers,  usually  in  periodical 
form.  It  sifts,  analyzes,  and  makes  plain  the 
lesson  in  ways  that  unaic)ed  study  cannot  attain. 
Besides  these  Church  helps,  there  are  great  pa- 
pers devoted  to  expositions  of  the  Sunday  school 
lessons. 

3.  The  Marginal  References  and  changes  of 
the  various  revisions  will  be  found  of  much  help 
especially  the  former.  There  is  scarcely  a  dif- 
ficult word  or  statement  in  the  Bible  which  is 
not  marginally  noted.  Read  carefully  these  ref- 
erences, and  you  will  be  surprised  what  light  will 
fall  upon  the  dark  places  of  the  lesson. 

4.  Pencil  and  Paper. — Form  the  habit  of 
making  pencil  notes  as  you  study.  Many  fine 
thoughts  will  thus  be  put  to  paper,  to  be  called  up 
again  when  you  teach.  Write  out  your  ques- 
tions as  you  study.  Make  up  a  written  outline, 
or  skeleton,  of  the  lesson,  giving  the  teaching 
"points"  as  you  think  them  out. 

d.  Jheditation.  — Take  your  daily  m  on  i  mg  study 


The  Teacher '$  Lesson  Study.  27 

with  you  to  the  shop,  the  farm,  or  the  store;  and 
meditate  upon  it  in  spare  moments.  "  Chew  the 
cud  of  reflection"  while  at  work;  It  will  not 
hinder,  but  will  often  sharpen  the  edge  of  your 
work.  There  is  a  power  in  one's  meditative 
thought  upon  a  lesson  beyond  other  human 
helps.  There  are  three  distinct  processes  in 
taking  food:  mastication,  digestion,  assimila- 
tion. So  in  Bible  study:  searching  the  Scrip- 
tures is  mastication;  meditation  upon  it  is  diges- 
tion; living  it  out  in  righteous  living  is  assimi- 
lation. 

III.  As  to  Methods. 

1 .  Study  a  Book.  — The  best  general  method  of 
Bible  study  is  book  study.  The  best  beginning  for 
a  series  of  Sunday  school  lessons  is  to  study  as  a 
whole  the  book  from  which  the  lessons  are  to  be 
taken.  The  meaning  of  the  book  will  set  in  clear- 
er light  the  meaning  of  the  several  lessons.  Read 
the  book  through,  if  you  can,  at  a  single  sitting. 
Read  it  in  the  light  of  its  authorship,  its  time, 
the  circumstances  of  the  writing,  the  persons  to 
whom  it  is  written,  its  special  purpose,  and  its 
relation  to  the  other  books  of  the  Bible. 

2.  Study  the  Connection. — Nearly  every  lesson 
is  related  to  the  lessons  going  before  and  after 
it.  Read  the  intervening  Scriptures,  and  carry 
forward  the  thread  of  connection  to  next  Sim- 
day's  lesson.     There  is  no  stronger  mental  law 


28  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

than  the  "  association  of  ideas,"  and  the  plan  of 
keeping  up  the  connection  between  the  lessons, 
for  both  teacher  and  scholar,  will  help  to  their 
better  retention  and  understanding. 

3.  Study  the  Lesson  Text. — The  literal  text — 
its  words,  phrases,  idioms,  sentences  —  comes 
next  in  order.  Read  it  verse  after  verse;  study 
its  words  and  their  meanings,  the  import  of  its 
statements;  make  plain  to  your  understanding 
what  the  text  means.  Do  this  first.  Much  mis- 
understanding of  the  Bible  comes  from  careless- 
ness in  getting  at  the  simple  text.  If  the  mean- 
ing is  obscure  to  the  teacher,  it  will  be  more  so 
to  his  scholars.  Put  the  lesson  into  your  own 
words,  changing  its  forms  and  modernizing  its 
language,  until  you  see  clearly  what  it  means, 
and  is  intended  to  state.  Make  no  haste  to  gen- 
eralize and  discover  "points."  Plain  study  of 
the  text  itself  is  the  teacher's  first  need. 

4.  Make  an  Outline. — After  you  have  gonp 
over  the  lesson,  verse  by  verse,  in  study  of  the 
text,  setting  its  statements  clearly  in  order,  think 
out  and  write  down  an  outline  of  the  spiritual 
teachings.  This  is  generalizing  the  lesson,  and 
involves  patient  thought.  The  temptation  will 
be  strong  to  resort  to  the  "helps"  and  see  what 
the  lesson  writers  say,  but  yielding  will  be  fatal 
to  original  thought.  Think  for  yourself:  First, 
what  does  the  text  mean?  secondly,  what  does 


The   Teacher's  Lesson  Study.  29 

the  lesson  as  a  whole  teach  ?  Usually  the  lesson 
will  teach  many  things,  but  hold  to  the  plain 
and  logical  doctrine  of  the  lesson,  in  the  light 
of  the  book  and  the  connection  out  of  which  the 
lesson  is  taken. 

5.  Study  the  Golden  Text.— The  Golden  Text, 
in  the  purpose  of  the  Lesson  Committee,  is  the 
key  to  the  spiritual  thought  of  the  lesson.  Fit 
it  to  the  lessen,  and  the  lesson  to  it.  Hold  to 
such  points  only  as  are  in  line  with  it,  and  you 
will  generally  be  correct.  This  is  the  secret  oi 
the  success  of  the  primary  teachers.  They  make 
their  teachings  to  crystallize  about  the  one  great 
truth  in  the  Golden  Text. 

6.  Study  the  "Helps." — By  these  are  meant  all 
expository  helps  supplied  by  your  Church — com- 
mentaries, papers,  periodicals,  books,  etc.  Com- 
pare their  analysis  with  your  own.  See  what 
points  in  teaching  they  suggest,  and  how  far 
your  own  thinking  agrees  with  theirs  as  to  the 
great  truth  the  lesson  is  set  to  teach.  But  do 
not  throw  aside  your  own  conclusions.  Your 
weapon  is  the  sling;  theirs,  the  sword  and  shield. 
You  cannot  climb  to  their  level  of  knowledge 
and  thought,  and  teach  as  they  do.  Use  their 
thought  only  as  suggestive,  but  hold  fast  to  your 
own  studies  of  the  lesson.  You  have  now  a 
double  view:  your  own  as  you  have  studied  it 
out,  and  the  view  of  the  best  Bible  students  of 


30  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

your  Church.  Between  the  two  you  can  see 
more  clearly  what  to  choose  for  your  scholars, 
as  suited  to  your  skill  as  a  teacher  and  to  their 
needs  as  a  class.  Choose  the  simpler  and  easier 
things  of  the  lesson,  along  the  lines  of  its  spir- 
itual thought.  Do  not  select  the  hard  points 
and  complex  analysis  of  the  professors  of  Bible 
learning.  Follow  their  fine  leadership  as  they 
separate  error  from  truth,  but  keep  your  own 
distance  and  stand  upon  your  own  familiar 
ground. 


IV.  THE  TEACHER'S  LESSON  PLAN. 

By  planning  the  lesson  is  meant  getting  it  in 
shape  for  teaching  it.  Mere  study  without  this 
planning  is  like  gathering  materials  for  the  con- 
struction of  a  house.  It  is  but  lumber,  brick, 
and  stone.  The  architect's  plan  is  needed  be- 
fore saw  or  hammer  is  used.  Teachers  fail  at 
this  point,  deeming  their  study  of  the  lesson  in 
itself  ample  preparation  for  the  teaching  of  it. 

To  plan  a  lesson  for  teaching  should  involve 
three  steps  in  order,'  as  follows: 

1.  Thinking  it  over  without  book  or  help. 

2.  Sifting  the  lesson  to  get  at  its  essentials. 

3.  Adapting  it  to  the  needs,  intellectually 
and  spiritually,  of  one's  scholars. 

I.   Thinking  It  Over. 

1.  Begin  by  thinking  over  the  lesson,  putting 
everything  aside  but  the  open  Bible.  Take  the 
lesson  and  read  it  over  and  over,  and  think  your 
way  through  it,  verse  by  verse.  Think  and 
pray  together  for  light.  Turn  the  verses  about, 
put  them  into  the  language  of  your  class,  strip 
the  lessons  of  its  idioms  and  peculiarities,  and 
try  to  make  it  conform  to  your  everyday  life. 
Bring  it  down  to  date  as  far  as  you  can,  and 
?'  (31) 


32  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

make  it  a  living  spiritual  message  for  the  pres- 
ent needs  of  yourself  and  scholars. 

2.  Try  to  analyze  the  thought  of  the  lesson, 
and  to  get  at  its  points  of  truth.  The  Lesson 
Committee,  learned  Bible  men,  chose  the  lesson 
with  much  care  because  of  some  great  truth  which 
it  contains  and  which  needs  to  be  emphasized. 
Discover  this  truth,  if  you  can,  for  and  of  your- 
self. You  will  be  tempted  to  turn  away  from 
the  Bible  in  order  to  find  it,  but  remember  our 
Lord  said  it  is  sometimes  "hidden  from  the 
wise  and  revealed  unto  babes."  Stick  to  your 
own  thinking,  writedown  your  own  thoughts,  one 
by  one,  as  they  rise  before  you.  If  you  compel 
yourself  to  think,  be  sure  the  thoughts  will 
come. 

3.  Think  how  you  can  make  plain  the  points 
of  the  lesson,  how  you  can  link  the  spiritual 
things  in  it  with  the  experiences  of  everyday 
living;  what  objects,  incidents,  stories,  pictures 
you  will  use  in  illustration;  what  motives,  de- 
sires, ambitions,  on  the  part  of  your  scholars, 
you  will  weave  in  with  the  truth,  so  as  to  make 
the  truth  attractive  and  telling.  Remember 
that  Jesus  taught  not  "'save  by  parables." 

II.   Sifting  the  Lesson. 

1.  Descend  now  to  the  scholar's  level.  Re- 
member how  hard  it  was  for  you  as  a  child  to 


The  Teachers  Lesson  Plan.  33 

understand  the  Bible,  and  how  little  pains 
some  teacher  perhaps  took  to  place  himself  at 
your  side  and  upon  the  level  of  your  childish 
way  of  thinking  and  learning.  Try  to  put 
yourself  in  the  scholar's  place,  and  see  with  his 
eyes,  and  hear  with  his  smaller  mental  sense. 

2.  Out  of  the  mass  of  things  from  the  lesson — 
historical,  doctrinal,  biographical,  moral,  and 
spiritual — study  what  should  be  omitted.  Much 
of  it,  in  the  nature  of  the  case,  is  mere  scaf- 
folding; some  of  it,  though  fine  enough  to  be 
used,  does  not  bear  upon  your  class;  your  time 
is  short,  some  of  your  scholars  are  dull  and  un- 
instructed  at  home;  all  of  them  can  learn  and 
digest  and  retain  a  little  of  the  truth,  if  you  will 
make  it  plain  and  easy  to  them.  Therefore  sift 
your  material,  and  make  the  dullness  of  the 
scholar,  and  not  your  own  higher  level  of  thought, 
the  test  of  what  you  retain.  Throw  everything 
away  but  that  which  you  are  sure  you  can  put 
within  the  understanding  of  the  class;  but  take 
care  that  what  you  keep  for  them  holds  within 
it  the  spiritual  thought  of  the  lesson. 

III.  Adapting  the  Lesson. 

1.  Now  comes  individualism  in  teaching, 
which  is  the  secret  of  all  true  teaching.  Christ 
taught  salvation  to  both  Nicodemus  and  the  Sa- 
maritan woman,  and  his  doctrines  were  nearly 


34  The  Sunday  School  Teacher, 

the  same  in  both  instances.  But  his  method 
varied.  He  encouraged  the  woman,  he  reproved 
the  rabbi;  he  drew  out  the  Samaritan,  he  re- 
pressed the  Jew  with  his  conceit  of  knowledge. 
So  must  you  study  out  methods  of  applying  the 
lesson  to  the  varied  conditions  of  your  scholars. 
One  boy  is  dull:  plan  to  draw  him  out,  give  him 
the  easiest  thing  in  the  lesson  to  con  sider  and  to  do. 
Another  is  bright  and  quick,  too  quick  perhaps: 
engage  his  mind  with  what  will  set  him  think- 
ing. Take  the  dull  ones  as  the  measure  and  test 
of  your  teaching.  Plan  especially  to  interest  and 
arouse  them.  Keep  them  ever  in  mind,  as  you 
are  sifting  the  lesson  and  making  ready  what 
and  how  you  will  teach. 

2.  Write  down  questions,  as  you  are  making 
ready  the  lesson  plan.  See  that  each  has  point 
and  compels  thought.  Adapt  them  to  the  va- 
ried conditions  of  the  scholars.  Be  sure  that 
you  include  in  your  plan  something  for  every 
scholar  in  the  class.  Never  let  a  scholar  go 
from  you  without  having  had  some  direct  part 
in  the  hour's  teaching.  Knowing  the  scholars 
intimately  as  you  should,  you  can  " feather" 
and  aim  your  questions  as  the  Indian  feathers 
and  aims  his  arrows — at  a  definite  mark. 

3.  The  last  thing  to  do  in  planning  a  lesson 
will  be  to  allow  to  each  part  of  it  its  definite 
portion  of  time.     There  will  be  some  reviewing 


The  Teacher's  Lesso?i  Plan.  35 

at  the  beginning,  some  making  plain  the  hard 
words  of  the  text,  some  clearing  up  of  strange 
allusions  and  customs,  some  exploration  of  the 
persons  and  places  of  the  lesson,  some  drill  of 
the  entire  class  upon  the  points  you  desire  es- 
pecially to  emphasize — all  of  these  bringing  out 
clearly  the  one  great  spiritual  truth  which  the 
lesson  is  designed  to  teach  and  which  your 
scholars  need  to  know  and  receive.  How  much 
time  is  to  be  given  here  and  there,  to  this  or 
that  part  of  the  teaching,  common  sense  and 
teaching  experience  must  decide.  One  thing, 
however,  is  plain:  if  you  spend  most  of  the 
time  on  the  scaffolding,  little  will  be  left  for 
the  building  itself.  If  the  time  is  frittered 
away  in  cracking  the  nut,  there  will  be  no  profit 
from  the  uneaten  kernel.  The  lesson  fails  if  it 
does  not  reach  the  conscience  and  heart,  and 
only  the  truth  in  the  lesson  will  do  that. 


V.  THE  LESSON  HALF  HOUR. 

This  is  the  crucial  test  of  teacher  and  school; 
the  line  point  of  contact,  disciplinary,  educa- 
tional, and  evangelistic.  As  goes  the  teaching, 
goes  the  school.  Whatever  else  the  school  may 
be  or  have,  in  fine  music,  modern  appliances, 
great  numbers;  or  if  it  is  only  a  log  cabin,  win- 
dowless  and  with  "slab"  benches  and  a  hand- 
ful of  rough  boys  and  girls — if  the  lesson  half 
hour  is  well  used,  it  merits  its  name  of  Sunday 
school. 

I.   Disciplinary. 

The  lesson  half  hour  involves  discipline. 
Good  teaching  goes  hand  in  hand  with  good 
order,  and  good  order  hinges  on  the  skill  of  the 
teacher  and  the  conditions  that  environ  his  class. 
Some  of  these  conditions  are  hindrances,  remov- 
able by  the  use  of  tact  and  good  judgment;  or, 
if  irremovable,  to  be  made  the  most  of.  Noth- 
ing about  the  real  Sunday  school  is  ideal,  and 
the  teacher  who  expects  it  and  is  discouraged  at 
lack  of  it  is  an  unwise  teacher.  Some  of  the 
hindrances  to  the  lesson  half  hour  are: 

1.  /Shortness  of  time.  Thirty  minutes  out  of 
a  whole  week  for  Bible-teaching  looks  small 
indeed;  but  consider  how  many  forces  for  good 
(36) 


The  Lesson  Half  Hour,  37 

converge  upon  it,  and  it  will  become  to  you  a 
great  opportunity. 

2.  Crowded  and  poorly  graded  classes ,  which 
is  easily  remedied  and  in  few  cases  is  inevita- 
ble. 

3.  Physical  discomfort,  such  as  dingy  rooms, 
ill  lighted  and  ventilated,  hard,  high  benches, 
etc.  This  too  might  be  bettered;  but  if  not, 
let  it  be  remembered  that  the  elastic  spirit  of 
youth  has  a  buoyancy  that  easily  rises  above 
mere  physical  inconveniences. 

4.  Lack  of  preparation,  from  failure  to  study 
at  home.  Much  can  be  done  to  overcome  this; 
but  in  any  event  the  teacher  is  upon  a  level 
with  the  preacher,  who  must  open  up  the  minds 
of  his  hearers  without  preparation  on  their  part. 

5.  Noisy  teachers,  who,  in  every  school,  by 
boisterous  speech  and  inconsiderate  methods, 
are  a  nuisance.  Only  the  superintendent  or 
death  will  abate  these,  but  take  care  that  you 
follow  not  their  evil  example. 

6.  Interruptions,  usually  by  officers,  permitted 
by  the  superintendent,  and  breaking  in  upon  the 
half  hour's  teaching.  There  is  no  excuse  for 
this  condition;  and  if  the  powers  that  be  will 
not  mend  it,  resign  at  once.  Better  not  be  a 
teacher  than  to  make  a  mock  of  it. 

7.  Disorderly  scholars,  who  infect  the  orderly 
ones,  spoil  the  teacher's  work,  and  sorely  try 


38  The  /Sunday  /School  Teacher. 

his  patience.  As  long  as  the  doctrine  of  de- 
pravity stands,  this  will  be  inevitable.  But  the 
crowning  work  of  the  teacher  is  the  conquest 
of  such  scholars.  To  win  but  one  and  make  a 
Christian  gentleman  of  him  is  greater  than  the 
taking  of  a  city. 

Per  contra,  there  are  conditions  about  the  les- 
son half  hour  to  be  set  over  against  its  hindran- 
ces, which  the  teacher  should  gratefully  con- 
sider: 

1.  There  are  young  minds,  willing  for  the 
most  part  to  learn,  often  pathetic  in  their  hun- 
ger for  the  truth.  Do  not  regard  the  mere  out- 
ward seeming  of  indifference  as  a  test  of  how 
well  the  scholars  are  learning. 

2.  There  are  young  hearts,  which  are  more 
than  young  minds.  However  mischievous  and 
restless  the  average  Sunday  school  boy  or  gir' 
may  be,  there  is  a  young,  impressible  heart 
within  him  or  her,  not  yet  in  keeping  of  the 
evil  one,  and  the  marks  of  the  loving  teacher 
upon  it  will  be  ineffaceable  in  time  and  eternity. 

3.  There  is  the  Holy  Bible,  the  one  text  of 
the  Sunday  school,  about  which  gather  the  tra- 
ditions and  worship  of  the  ages.  That  teach- 
er has  seen  little  who  has  not  noted  reverence 
for  God's  Book  even  in  the  gamin  of  the  street, 
as  it  lies  open  upon  his  lap  in  the  Sunday 
school. 


The  Lesson  Half  Hour.  39 

4.  Bending  over  that  book  is  its  divine  Inter- 
preter, the  Holy  Spirit,  who  will  turn  weakness 
into  strength  and  darkness  into  light  for  the 
teacher  whose  life  merits  the  help.  The  Holy 
Spirit  is  pledged  to  the  aid  of  that  Book,  and 
by  it  he  will  compel  conviction  of  sin  and  need 
of  Christ.  It  is  folly  for  the  teacher  of  any 
class,  however  rude  or  careless,  to  yield  for  a 
UK>ment  to  discouragement  over  the  outcome  of 
his  teaching,  when  he  knows,  or  ought  to  know, 
that  from  the  first  to  the  last  moment  of  the 
lesson  half  hour  the  Holy  Spirit,  Teacher,  and 
Guide  of  the  Church,  is  at  his  side  helping  to 
make  the  most  of  his  teaching. 

II.  Educational. 

In  considering  the  educational  points  of  the 
lesson  half  hour,  something  depends  on  the 
tools  with  which  one  works,  as  well  as  the  way 
in  which  he  works. 

1.  The  use  of  Bibles  in  the  class  is  of  first  im- 
portance, whether  used  with  or  without  the 
' '  helps. "  The  lesson  leaves  may  be  at  hand,  but 
their  proper  work  comes  before  the  lesson  half 
hour  and  not  during  it.  There  is  a  unique  value 
in  having  the  Bible  in  the  hands  of  the  scholars, 
and  in  training  them  to  ready  and  familiar  use 
of  it.  Verse  by  verse  the  lesson  should  be  read 
deliberately  by  scholars  designated,  and  every 


40  The  Sunday  School  Teacher, 

effort  made  to  give  impressiveness  to  it  as  the 
Word  of  God. 

2.  Fixing  Attention. — This  comes  with  prac- 
tice, and  must  be  had  at  any  cost,  as  nothing 
can  be  learned  without  it.  Remember,  howev- 
er, that  the  restless  activity  of  the  youthful 
mind  is  encouragement  to  seize  upon  and  turn 
it  to  good  account.  The  teacher  must  learn  to 
"catch  the  eye"  of  the  mind,  and  to  watch  for 
signs  of  flagging  interest. 

3.  Self-Hetyi. — This  is  the  stumbling-block  to 
many  teachers,  whose  mistaken  kindness  would 
carry  the  burden  of  thinking  upon  themselves 
rather  than  lay  it  upon  the  scholars.  It  is  a 
kindness  to  the  scholar  to  let  him  do  the  think- 
ing to  the  limit  of  his  ability.  Let  the  facts  of 
the  lesson  be  brought  out  from  the  Bible,  and 
then  give  time  to  the  scholars  to  think  out  right 
conclusions,  helping  only  after  they  have  helped 
themselves. 

4.  The  Text  of  the  Lesson. — The  teacher's  first 
duty  to  the  Bible  is  to  make  plain  the  text  of 
the  lesson,  to  get  at  the  meaning  of  its  words, 
to  turn  it  into  the  scholar's  way  of  speech.  The 
best  way  to  do  this  is  to  carefully  note  beforehand 
each  word  and  expression  out  of  the  range  of 
the  scholar,  and  to  begin  the  lesson  by  clearing 
up  these  textual  difficulties.  Doing  this  con- 
stantly will  beget  a  habit  on  the  part  of  the 


The  Lesson  Half  Sour,  41 

class  of  thinking  over  the  matter  read,  which  is 
a  fine  educational  gain. 

5.  Repeating  the  Truth. — In  every  lesson  there 
are  a  few  great  truths  which  should  be  framed 
by  the  teacher  in  advance  in  the  simplest  and 
fewest  words,  and  then  drilled  upon  over  and 
over  by  repetition,  first  by  the  individual  schol- 
ar, then  by  the  entire  class.  Nothing  will  fix  in 
mind  and  heart  the  salient  thought  of  the  les- 
eon,  and  at  the  same  time  hold  the  attention  at 
tvork,  like  this  going  over  the  chief  points  of 
the  lesson.  But  they  must  be  first  clearly 
stated  by  the  teacher. 

6.  Something  for  Each. — The  most  common 
blunder  of  the  lesson  half  hour  is  allowing  part 
of  tiie  class  to  do  the  work  of  thinking  and 
learning,  and  failing  to  lay  upon  every  scholar 
some  share  of  the  work  proportioned  to  his 
ability.  The  boy  who  is  given  a  part  will  re- 
spond by  taking  part,  and  will  be  spurred  on  to 
take  larger  part  and  to  do  better  work.  Dull- 
ards are  kept  dull,  and  others  are  made  dull,  by 
the  neglect  of  the  teacher  to  draw  them  out  and 
make  them  do  their  share  of  the  work. 

As  to  methods  of  teaching  a  lesson,  the  choice 
will  depend  upon  the  age,  ability,  and  environ- 
ment of  the  scholars.  The  method  ought  to  be 
varied  from  time  to  time,  and  several  methods 
may  be  properly  combined  in  the  same  lesson. 


42  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

1.  The  story-telling  method  is  best  for  pri- 
mary and  younger  intermediate  classes.  The 
teacher  carefully  prepares  the  lesson  with  the 
little  ones  in  mind,  reduces  it  to  a  story,  and 
tells  it  as  accurately  and  simply  as  possible, 
using  pictures,  objects,  and  blackboard,  and 
questioning  upon  the  story  as  she  proceeds  with 
it,  in  order  to  see  if  she  is  understood.  After- 
wards she  has  the  children  to  repeat  and  ex- 
plain the  story  to  her  in  their  own  childish 
words  and  way.  This  simple  method  lies  at 
the  basis  of  all  good  teaching. 

2.  The  analytical  method  is  a  step  higher,  and 
is  better  suited  to  the  big  boys  and  girls.  The 
teacher  reads  the  verses  of  the  lesson,  or  has 
them  read  one  by  one,  and  questions  the  schol- 
ars individually,  and  in  the  simplest  form,  upon 
the  words,  statements,  and  meanings  of  the 
verse,  so  that  the  text  itself  will  be  made  plain. 
It  is  not  so  much  a  study  of  "doctrines"  and 
"points"  as  of  the  simple  lesson  text.  Such  a 
method  quickens  the  attention  of  the  scholars 
and  fixes  their  minds  upon  what  the  Bible  says, 

3.  The  lecture  method  is  suited  to  adults. 
The  teacher  questions  little  or  none,  although 
inviting  and  encouraging  questions  from  the 
class.  He  presents  the  lesson  after  the  form  of 
a  lecture,  setting  forth  its  "points"  in  an  order- 
ly manner,  and  applying  its  truths  to  the  pre»- 


The  wesson  Half  Hour.  43 

ent  conditions  of  his  class.  Teachers  of  adult 
Bible  classes  have  found  this  the  most  popular 
method,  for  the  reason  that  ignorance  as  to 
questions  asked  of  adults  is  more  embarrassing 
than  with  children  and  youth.  Many  will  sit 
with  such  a  class,  and  receive  profit  from  the 
teacher's  lecture,  who  would  stay  away  if  indi- 
vidual questions  were  asked. 

4.  The  colloquial  method  is  the  best  "all- 
round"  method  for  well- trained  classes.  Un- 
der this  method  verse  after  verse  is  taken  up  in 
order  by  members  of  the  class  (using  Bible 
only),  read  and  expounded  by  each  in  his  own 
way;  the  teacher  informally  correcting,  modi- 
fying, or  stating  contrary  views,  the  utmost 
freedom  being  allowed  to  teacher  and  class. 
Under  a  prudent  teacher,  of  firmness  and  tact 
to  curtail  needless  discussion  and  to  hold  the 
class  to  the  main  truths  of  the  lesson,  such  les- 
son study  has  a  peculiar  charm  and  profit.  But 
its  success  depends  upon  the  wisdom  of  the 
leafier,  without  which  the  colloquial  method  de- 
generates into  profitless  and  "cranky"  discus- 
sion. 

III.  Evangelistic. 

The  lesson  half  hour  means  more  than  Bible 
study.  The  Bible  is  studied  in  order  to  con- 
vert and  to  form  character,  not  for  mere  knowl- 
edge of  the  book.     It  needs  to  be  urged  upon 


44  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

teachers  more  than  ever  in  these  days  of  fine 
teaching  methods  that  the  primary  work  of  the 
Sunday  school  is  not  educational  but  evangelis- 
tic. It  is  not  learning  the  Bible  as  a  book,  but 
putting  it  into  practice  as  the  supreme  rule  of 
life.  The  lesson  that  is.  made  plain  to  the  mind 
but  does  not-find  its  way  into  the  heart  is  a  fail- 
ure. There  are  some  things  pertaining  to  the 
evangelistic  work  of  the  teacher  which  should 
be  kept  in  mind  as  a  guide  to  better  spiritual 
effort: 

1.  Knowing  the  Scholar. — Not  so  much  his 
social  or  mental  as  his  spiritual  condition.  Is 
he  already  a  Christian?  Is  he  upon  the  border 
line,  and  "not  far  from  the  kingdom?"  Is  his 
conscience  yet  sensitive  ?  Is  he  the  slave  of  some 
bad  habit?  Is  he  growing  careless  religiously? 
Has  he  light  and  trivial  notions  of  religion? 
Does  he  realize  his  need  of  Christ?  The  teach- 
er must  know  the  answers  to  these  questions,  if 
he  is  to  become  the  saving  instrument  of  God. 

2.  The  Constant  Use  of  the  Word.—  There 
is  a  strange  power  in  the  words  themselves  of 
the  Bible;  not  the  teacher's  words  about  the 
Bible,  but  the  Bible  itself.  Use  God's  words 
rather  than  your  own.  Read  the  lesson;  turn 
often  to  the  open  Bible;  read  it  slowly  and 
prayerfully.  It  is  sharper  than  any  two  edged 
sword. 


The  Lesson  Half  Hour.  45 

3.  Appealing  to  Conscience. — Make  the  appeal 
direct  and  incisive.  It  is  the  thrust  of  the 
sword.  Remember  that  now,  more  than  ever,  is 
the  young  conscience  quick  and  tender;  there- 
fore fail  not  to  arouse  it. 

4.  Appealing  to  Decision. — The  bond  of  af- 
fection between  teacher  and  scholar  is  peculiar- 
ly close,  and  allows  much  spiritual  freedom. 
No  one  can  enter  the  youthful  "holy  of  holies" 
more  freely  than  the  Sunday  school  teacher. 
Aim  at  the  innermost  confidence  of  the  scholar. 
Use  your  love  for  him  and  his  confidence  in  you 
to  secure  his  personal  decision  for  Christ.  Your 
heart  will  be  made  to  rejoice  if  you  thus  become 
a  shepherd  of  souls. 

5.  A.  Moment  of  Prayer. — With  every  lesson 
half  hour  there  should  be  a  little  moment  of 
united  prayer  with  your  class,  with  bowed  head 
over  the  Word  of  God,  inaudible  it  may  be,  yet 
an  earnest  pleading  with  God  for  the  scholars 
and  for  the  help  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  arresting 
wayward  minds,  touching  young  hearts,  giving 
skill  to  impart  the  truth,  making  tender  the 
conscience,  and  blessing  the  solemn  work  of 
another  Sabbath  day.  Years  may  come  and  go, 
but  the  scholars  will  recall  reverently  these 
moments  of  prayer  in  the  little  circle  of  the 
now  disbanded  class. 


VI.  THE  HEART  OF  THE  LESSON. 

I.  What  the  Lesson  Means. 

To  know  what  to  teach  is  the  problem  of  first 
importance.  What  one  teaches  is  of  more  ac- 
count than  how  one  teaches.  This  is  true  of  a 
lesson  from  any  book,  but  much  more  of  the 
Bible,  which  is  the  one  book  of  divine  truth. 
Evil  and  ignorant  men  have  taught  every  con- 
ceivable doctrine  by  wresting  the  Scriptures 
from  their  divine  intent.  The  Bible  has  been 
made  to  bolster  up  every  heresy  by  men  who 
have  abused  its  spirit  and  meaning.  Because  a 
thing  is  "in  the  Bible"  does  not  therefore  give 
it  the  sanction  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Men,  angels, 
devils,  saints,  and  sinners  in  turn  are  made  to 
speak  in  the  Bible ;  it  is  historical,  and  gives 
us  the  facts  and  the  words  of  speakers,  often 
without  comment.  The  teacher's  first  duty, 
therefore,  is  to  find  out  and  to  teach  only  what  the 
Bible  itself  means  shall  be  taught,  what  the 
plain  intent  of  the  day's  lesson  is,  taking  it  in 
connection  with  other  parts  of  the  Bible,  and  in 
harmony  with  the  known  general  sense  and  spirit 
of  the  book  as  a  unit  of  divine  revelation.  Only 
the  teacher  who  is  fair-minded  toward  the  Bible, 
who  reads  it  much  and  praverfullv,  and  "goes 
(4G) 


The  Heart  of  the  Lesson.  47 

through  it "  book  by  book,  w.ll  ?et  at  this  true 
understanding  of  the  spiritual  intent  of  a  partic- 
ular lesson.  Such  wisdom  to  know  what  the  les- 
son truly  means  is  the  immediate  gift  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  to  the  candid  and  devout  teacher. 
It  is  a  matter  between  one's  own  heart  and  God, 
and  the  "helps,"  however  learned,  cannot  im- 
part it.  It  is  the  Holy  Spirit  who  "takes  of  the 
things  of  Christ  and  shows  them  unto  us." 

II.  The  Literal  and  the  Spiritual. 

In  getting  at  the  lesson's  meaning,  the  follow- 
ing hints  may  be  helpful: 

1.  First,  try  to  distinguish  clearly  what  is 
literal  and  what  is  spiritual.  Nearly  every  les- 
son involves  persons,  places,  events  of  history, 
biography,  certain  things  pertaining  to  a  remote 
past.  These  are  the"  literal  things  of  the  lesson. 
In  themselves  they  may  be  of  little  or  much  ac- 
count, usually  the  former.  Behind  these  say- 
ings and  doings  of  an  ancient  time  there  are  al- 
ways present  in  a  Bible  lesson — sometimes  plain 
to  the  view,  at  other  times  hidden  except  to  the 
finer  spiritual  sense;  sometimes  discoverable  with 
little  thought,  at  other  times  revealed  as  a  flash 
after  patient  and  prayerful  meditation — cer- 
tain spiritual  truths  which  the  Bible  intends  for 
"instruction  in  righteousness,"  for  reproof,  and 
guidance.  The  Bible  cares  for  these,  and  for 
4 


48  The  Sunday  /School  leacher. 

these  only.  Its  men  and  women,  cities,  nations, 
temples,  warriors  and  battles,  the  mere  historic 
happenings  which  it  narrates,  are  but  scaffold- 
ing, a  means  to  an  end.  It  is  not  history  or  bi- 
ography, but  the  truth  as  revealed  in  Christ, 
that  the  Bible  seeks  through  us  to  teach.  There 
is  to  every  lesson  a  lower  literal  side,  which  may 
serve  as  a  help  to  our  teaching;  and  a  higher  spir- 
itual side,  which  must  be  the  end  of  our  teaching. 
If  Sunday  school  teaching  means  anything,  it 
means  that  the  literal  things,  the  geography,  his- 
tory, and  biography,  the  sayings  and  doings  of 
nations  or  individuals,  are  but  stone  and  mortar 
and  timber  that  enter  into  the  temple  as  a  part 
or  foundation  for  it,  but  are  not  in  themselves 
the  building  of  truth  we  should  enter  and  wor- 
ship in  with  our  Sunday  school  scholars.  In 
every  lesson  there  is  the  outer  husk  of  the  lit- 
eral; there  is  also  the  inner  food  for  the  nour- 
ishment of  the  soul.  Breaking  the  husk  comes 
first  in  the  order  of  teaching;  but  the  teacher 
must  not  seek  to  satisfy  his  class  with  the  husk, 
and  leave  the  precious  food  within  unused.  To 
know  and  to  use  the  husk  in  order  to  get  at  the 
food;  to  feed  this  to  the  scholars — is  the  supreme 
end  of  Sunday  school  teaching. 

2.  Take  care,  therefore,  to  give  prominence  to 
the  spiritual  in  the  lesson.  The  literal  has  its 
place  and  time,  because  the  Holy  Spirit  has  seen 


The  Heart  of  the  Lesson.  49 

fit  thus  to  envelop  the  spiritual  in  the  literal. 
That  teaching  is  therefore  natural  and  skillful 
which  lays  its  foundation  in  the  literal,  and 
builds  upon  it  the  spiritual;  but  that  teaching 
is  a  failure  which  spends  its  strength  in  mere 
foundation-laying.  It  is  hard  to  fix  a  definite 
proportion  between  the  literal  and  the  spiritual 
in  the  lesson.  But  if  the  spiritual  is  uppermost 
in  the  mind  and  heart  of  the  teacher,  and  is  the 
clear-set  goal  of  his  work,  the  literal  will  serve, 
as  it  should,  for  the  approach  only,  the  outef 
court  of  the  temple.  If  the  teacher  is  living 
away  from  God,  has  "lost  his  experience,"  and 
with  blurred  vision  of  the  spiritual  essays  to 
teach  as  duty  only,  literalism  will  be  the  sign  ol 
his  decadence  and  failure.  Apply  this  test  as 
you  read  these  lines,  dear  teacher,  and  ask  your- 
self these  questions:  Is  my  teaching  of  the  let- 
ter which  killeth,  or  of  the  spirit  which  giveth 
life?  Do  I  use  the  literal  things  of  the  lesson 
only  as  a  scaffold  to  help  me  build  up  some 
great  truth  of  God  before  my  class ;  or  am  I 
a  teacher  of  mere  concrete  things,  that  may  give 
knowledge  but  not  wisdom?  Are  my  spiritual 
eyes  dim,  that  I  cannot  see  in  the  lesson  the 
things  of  the  Spirit?  Do  I  spend  precious  time 
in  quibbling  over  the  color  of  priestly  dress  or 
fate  of  lost  ark  or  value  of  Jewish  coin?  Do 
my  boys  and  girls  go  from  me  with  a  little  dull 


50  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

knowledge  of  Aate  or  person  or  place,  a  glimpse 
of  Bible  history,  added  to  their  small  stock;  but 
with  hearts  untouched  and  consciences  unaroused 
by  contact  with  that  inner  divine  message  of 
wisdom  which  every  lesson  from  God's  Book 
should  unfold? 

3.  Take  time  to  apply  the  spiritual  in  the  lesson, 
as  far  as  you  can  possibly  do  this.  Finding  out 
what  the  spiritual  is,  reserving  time  to  make  it 
plain,  is  setting  the  arrow  to  the  string.  The 
arrow  of  truth  must  be  aimed  at  the  conscience, 
and  the  bow  of  the  teacher's  holy  purpose  must 
drive  it  to  the  mark.  There  are  "joints  in  the 
harness"  of  every  scholar.  There  is  always  in 
youth  a  penetrable  conscience.  If  you  have 
failed  to  find  the  tender  place,  and  to  know 
where  to  lay  your  finger  upon  the  scholar's  con- 
science, the  fault  is  yours.  You  could  have 
made  sure  of  that  much  in  the  years  you  and 
he  have  been  together.  If  you  do  know  these 
things,  and  can  aim  your  arrow  of  divine  truth 
•straight  at  the  mark,  do  not  fail  to  do  it.  Prayer 
will  steady  your  hand,  love  will  feather  the 
shaft,  the  Holy  Spirit  will  guide  it  unerringly 
to  the  mark.  Every  Sunday  school  lesson  has 
this  one  great  purpose:  "To  convince  of  sin,  of 
righteousness,  and  of  judgment  to  come." 


VII.  PRINCIPLES  OF  TEACHING. 

There  are  certain  fundamental  principles  of 
teaching.  They  are  few  and  simple,  and  change 
not.  The  great  teachers  of  the  past  used  them 
in  their  day,  Christ  gave  his  sanction  to  them, 
and  every  successful  teacher  consciously  or  un- 
consciously makes  use  of  them.  To  learn  thor- 
oughly a  teaching  principle,  and  to  make  one's 
self  master  of  it  by  study  and  practice,  is  far  bet- 
ter than  slavish  copying  of  methods  without 
understanding  the  reason  for  them.  Methods 
are  the  product  of  a  principle  at  work.  Wher- 
ever there  is  correct  teaching,  it  must  be  in  ac- 
cordance with  these  well-defined  principles,  some 
of  which  are  here  presented  in  their  order  and 
relationship. 

I.  The  Principle  op  Adaptation. 

This  applies  to  the  subject  to  be  taught,  and 
stands  first  in  the  way  of  the  teacher.  It  de- 
mands of  the  teacher  four  things: 

1.  That  he  must  have  a  definite  teaching  plan, 
fixing  in  order  the  things  of  the  lesson  which 
are  to  be  taught  or  to  be  omitted,  as  well  as  the 
method  he  is  to  employ  in  teaching.  Its  use  is 
to  determine  beforehand  what  there  is  in  the 

(51) 


52  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

lesson  for  his  class,  and  to  what  he  should  give 
special  emphasis.  Such  a  plan  ought  to  be 
thought  out  by  the  teacher  of  and  for  himself, 
and  not  be  a  mere  copy  of  what  he  Ifas  seen  in 
use  by  another. 

2.  The  second  requirement  relates  to  the  schol- 
ar. The  teacher  must  know  enough  of  the 
scholar,  individually  and  particularly,  to  be 
able  to  fit  the  lesson  to  his  special  need.  This 
applies  the  more  urgently  when  it  is  a  question 
of  the  fitness  of  spiritual  truth.  Without  this 
knowledge,  teaching  the  Bible  is  shooting  ar- 
rows in  the  dark. 

3.  The  third  thing  is  to  adapt  the  lesson  to 
the  grade  which  the  teacher  is  teaching,  and  this 
has  reference  to  the  mind  and  its  conditions  and 
stage  of  development.  The  same  lesson  needs 
to  be  worked  out  in  different  ways,  according  to 
whether  it  is  to  be  taught  to  a  child  or  to  a  young 
man,  to  a  dull  class  or  a  bright  one.  Like  food 
jmd  medicine,  the  amount  and  kind  must  be  suit- 
ed to  the  particular  case. 

4.  The  last  application  of  this  principle  has  to 
do  with  the  truth  of  the  lesson.  There  is  usually 
one  central  truth  in  every  lesson,  overshadowing 
the  others,  and  intended  as  the  chief  teaching  of 
the  text  assigned.  To  seize  upon  this,  enforce 
and  emphasize  it,  and  fix  it  securely  in  the  mind 
and  heart  of  the  scholar,  within  the  limit  of 


Principles  of  Teaching.  53 

thirty  minutes,  is  the  chief  adaptive  work  of  the 
teacher.  It  takes  hard  study  to  do  it,  and  one's 
own  study  at  that.  It  must  burn  in  the  teacher's 
mind  and  heart  first,  if  he  would  set  on  fire  his 
class. 

II.  The  Principle  of  Cooperation. 
After  the  subject-matter  comes  a  consideration 
of  the  teaching  work.  This  work,  before  and 
with  the  class,  may  be  represented  by  a  circle. 
The  teacher's  preparation  and  adaptation  of  the 
lesson  would  be  one  half  of  the  circle,  and»the 
scholar's  study  and  effort  to  learn  would  be  the 
other  half.  Any  failure  to  cooperate,  on  the  part 
of  teacher  or  scholar,  would  be  taking  away  an 
arc  of  the  circle  and  leaving  it  incomplete.  Co- 
operation therefore  demands: 

1.  That  the  teacher  must  be  in  readiness  oj 
preparation  and  in  thorough  sympathy  with  his 
work  and  the  scholar. 

2.  That  the  scholar's  attention  must  be  main- 
tained from  the  beginning  to  the  end  of  the  les- 
son, not  by  compulsion  but  by  the  skill  of  the 
teacher.  Without  this  free,  constant  attention 
there  can  be  no  learning. 

3.  The  cooperation  of  the  dull  and  slow  schol- 
ars of  the  class  is  to  be  diligently  sought  after, 
even  at  the  expense  of  the  bright  scholars,  who, 
in  some  measure,  are  able  to  take  care  of  them- 


54  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

selves.  The  surest  test  of  the  teacher  is  not  how 
his  bright  scholars  are  learning,  but  how  well 
he  is  succeeding  with  the  dull  ones. 

4.  Scholars  are  not  to  be  left  a  moment  unem- 
ployed^ as  the  lack  of  something  to  do  and  to  be 
thinking  and  working  upon  is  the  certain  way 
of  cutting  the  cords  of  attention.  "Each  schol- 
ar, all  the  time,"  is  a  good  working  motto  for 
the  teacher. 

5.  Cooperation  is  not  to  be  confined  to  the 
class  hour  and  work,  which  is  all  too  small  un- 
der the  best  of  teaching,  but  should  extend  back- 
ward and  forward  through  the  week,  in  some 
form  of  carefully  assigned  advance  work  for  the 
scholar  in  his  home.  A  cooperation  that  de- 
pends upon  a  weekly  contact  of  an  hour  only 
will  accomplish  little  lasting  good. 

III.  The  Principle  of  Gradatiox. 

This  applies  to  the  process  through  and  by 
which  the  teacher  leads  the  scholar  into  posses- 
sion of  the  truth.  It  is  the  severest  test  of  a 
teacher's  ability.  Much  Sunday  school  teaching 
is  chaotic,  confusing  to  the  scholar,  out  of  range 
with  his  habits  of  thought,  too  difficult  for  him. 
Pie  is  immature,  and  is  capable  of  taking  only 
one  short  step  at  a  time.  The  teacher  assumes 
too  much  as  to  the  scholar's  mind  and  stock  of 
knowledge,  and  the  result  is  his  discouragement 


Principles  of  Teaching.  55 

and  loss  of  interest.  It  is  true  of  most  young 
people  that  they  relish  learning,  if  it  is  in  easy 
reach  and  made  simple  and  plain  to  the  under- 
derstanding.  The  mind  of  a  child  is  as  active 
as  its  body,  and  it  learns  something  from  what- 
ever it  touches.  The  work  of  the  Sunday  school 
teacher  should  be  to  take  the  things  of  the  Bible, 
and  put  them  in  easy  steps  for  the  slow  and  timid 
feet  of  the  young. 

1.  The  first  step  in  gradation  is  to  discover 
what  the  scholar  knows,  or  does  not  know,  of  the 
lesson  in  hand.  This  is  finding  out  the  schol- 
ar's level  and  making  that  a  starting  point,  a 
most  important  thing  in  teaching. 

2.  The  second  step  is  to  present  the  concrete 
things  of  the  lesson  that  are  nearest  and  most  at- 
tractive to  the  scholar,  such  as  the  elements  of 
time,  place,  biography,  and  history.  The  schol- 
ar's mind  receives  these  concrete  things  before  it 
begins  to  think  at  all.  The  wise  teacher  will 
therefore  find  first  what  the  scholar  knows  that 
may  connect  with  the  lesson,  and  will  then  know 
what  to  set  forth. 

3.  The  next  step  is  to  draw  out  the  ethical  and 
spiritual  things  that  come  from  this  study  of  the 
facts.  When  a  scholar  knows  something  in  the 
lesson  to  start  with,  he  is  stimulated  to  go  on  to 
the  next  step.  This  was  the  art  of  the  Great 
Teacher.     He  set  simple  facts  and  stories  before 


56  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

his  hearers,  based  upon  things  well  known  to 
them,  as  parables;  and,  locking  up  in  these  sto- 
ries his  spiritual  truths,  incited  his  hearers  to 
think  out  their  meanings. 

4.  The  teacher  must  also  keep  in  mind  that  a 
single  truth  well  learned  is  better  than  a  whole 
lesson  skimmed  over.  Here  is  the  mistake  of 
many  teachers.  They  attempt  to  teach  too  much, 
and,  in  essaying  to  do  this,  they  teach  nothing. 
Quintilian's  maxim  is  timely:  "Not  what  I  may 
remember  constitutes  learning,  but  what  I  can- 
not forget." 

5.  The  summing  up  of  the  principle  of  grada- 
tion is  the  connecting  of  each  successive  step  with 
those  preceding,  and  especially  the  taking  of  no 
step  forward  until  one  is  sure  that  what  has  been 
passed  over  is  understood.  Teaching  like  this 
will  cause  the  teacher  to  move  slowly,  and  to 
leave  out  unimportant  details;  but  it  will  quick- 
en interest  and  study  in  one's  scholars,  and  set 
before  them  the  only  standard  of  true  learning — 
to  learn  every thi?ig  thoroughly. 

IV.  The  Principle  of  Repetition. 
This  was  the  favorite  working  principle  of  the 
Jesuit  teachers,  who  did  much  to  revolutionize 
educational  methods.  It  was  said  of  the  youth 
who  were  subjects  of  their  teaching  that  "the 
Jesuit  left  his  mark  for  life  upon  every  child 


Principles  of  Teaching.  57 

he  had  taught. "  The  principle  is  older  than  the 
Jesuit.  The  Bible  speaks  of  "  line  upon  line,  pre- 
cept upon  precept,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little." 
The  graver's  tool  must  strike  often  if  it  is  to  cut 
deep.  There  is  no  fact  more  apparent  to  the  ex- 
perienced teacher  than  the  necessity  for  repeti- 
tion, in  order  to  fix  the  truth  in  the  mind  of  the 
child.  Memory  will  catch  a  truth  quickly,  and 
hold  it  for  a  time;  but  it  passes  away  unless  the 
oft- repeated  stroke  of  the  teacher  sinks  it  deeply. 
It  is  as  true  of  the  understanding  as  of  the  mem- 
ory, that  a  thing  is  not  truly  apprehended  un* 
til  it  has  often  passed  before  the  child's  mind. 
Every  time  it  thus  passes  it  grows  plainer.  If 
there  is  one  principle  more  honored  in  the  breach 
than  in  the  observance,  it  is  this  one  of  repeat- 
ing the  truths  of  our  Sunday  school  teaching. 
Quarterly  reviews  and  attempts  at  written  ex- 
aminations attest  this  statement.  Let  the  av- 
erage superintendent  try  to  call  out  from  his 
school  the  teachings  of  the  past  month,  and  his 
cheek  will  flush  with  the  sense  of  failure.  Five 
points  are  involved  in  this  principle: 

1.  That  the  mind  and  heart  do  not  retain  what 
comes  from  few  and  slight  impressions. 

2.  That  scholars,  if  wisely  led,  like  to  travel 
over  and  over  the  same  truths. 

3.  That  a  little  definite  knowledge  that  can  be 
instantly  used  is  both  a  joy  and  a  power  to  the 


58  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

Sunday  school  scholar,  but  a  mass  of  imperfect* 
ly  learned  truth  is  a  pain  and  a  hindrance. 

4.  That  no  Sunday  school  teacher  should  be- 
gin a  lesson  without  reviewing  carefully  the 
2-)receding  one,  nor  close  a  lesson  without  call- 
ing up  from  his  scholars  a  summary  of  its  chief 
points. 

5.  That  the  Sunday  school  teacher  who  neg- 
lects this  old-fashioned  principle,  however  showy 
his  work  may  seem,  is  turning  out  scholars  who 
have  really  learned  nothing  of  permanent  value. 


VIII.  TEACHING  POIKTS. 

I.  As  to  Manner. 

^'e,  natural.  Do  not  wear  your  "photograph 
innile"  before  the  class.  The  scholars  know 
what  is  natural  and  what  is  forced. 

Be  friendly.  "Whoso  would  have  friends 
must  show  himself  friendly. "  Your  manner  will 
make  or  unmake  friends. 

Be  cheerful.  Leave  headache  and  heartache  at 
home,  as  far  as  possible,  ^ou  have  no  right  to 
overcloud  the  optimism  of  childhood  with  per- 
sonal sorrows  and  vexations. 

Be  cordial.  Many  boys  and  girls  come  to  Sun- 
day school  from  homes  of  scant  courtesy.  The 
teacher's  hearty  hand  shake  and  welcome  will 
win  the  heart  all  the  more  because  of  lack  of  con- 
sideration at  home. 

Be  tender.  If  you  could  know  all  the  heart- 
aches of  the  scholars,  you  would  need  no  such 
admonition.  Children  have  troubles  as  real  as 
our  own,  and  a  little  tenderness  goes  a  long 
way  with  them. 

Be  patient.  To  be  patient  is  to  suffer,  for  that, 
is  the  meaning  of  the  word.  The  last  place  for 
fretf ulness    or   irritability    is  before  a   Sunday 

(59) 


60  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

school  class.  Do  not  see  or  hear  things  of  a  wor- 
rying kind.  Look  beyond  them  to  a  better  day. 
Make  up  your  mind  to  suffer,  which  is  the  sure 
road  to  patience. 

Use  your  eyes.  If  you  are  a  slave  to  the 
"help  habit,"  referring  constantly  to  the  teach- 
ing helps  while  teaching,  break  your  fetters  and 
teach  eye  to  eye.  A  well-aimed  eye  has  hyp- 
notic power.  Look  the  scholars  squarely  in  the 
face  as  you  teach,  and  make  them  feel  that  the 
teacher's  eye  sees  every  motion  of  mind  or  body. 

Be  serious.  The  Sunday  school  hour  is  not 
a  time  for  jokes  and  pleasantries.  Brightness, 
gladness,  a  smile,  a  pleasant  word,  are  in  place; 
but  not  laughter  nor  levity.  Nor  is  gossip  or 
mere  chitchat  in  order.  The  laughter  and  loose 
tongue  of  one  who  is  dealing  with  young  souls 
is  like  the  "crackling  of  thorns  under  a  pot." 

II.  As  to  Interest. 

Come  early  to  place,  before  inattention  gets  a 
footing.  The  teacher  ought  to  be  in  his  seat 
fully  fifteen  minutes  before  the  session  begins, 
to  put  things  in  order,  distribute  song  books 
and  Bibles,  to  engage  the  earlier  comers,  to 
preoccupy  the  ground  socially  and  mentally. 
Enough  restlessness  and  mischief  may  be  gener- 
ated in  the  first  idle  minutes  of  the  belated  teach- 
er's hour  to  spoil  a  day's  work.     The  battle  is 


Teaching  Points.  61 

won  or  lost  in  the  five  minutes  before  and  after 
the  superintendent's  signal  bell. 

Set  the  scholars  at  work  as  quickly  as  possible. 
Give  them  Bible  texts  bearing  upon  the  lesson 
to  look  up.  Have  them  to  find  the  lesson  place 
in  their  Bibles.  Make  up  the  day's  report  of  ab- 
sentees, offerings,  etc.,  with  their  help.  If  they 
must  talk,  let  the  teacher  lead  and  control  the 
talking,  and  turn  it  to  good  account  for  the  day's 
work. 

Resolve  to  have  attention,  and  then  set  to  work 
to  carry  out  the  resolve.  A  firm  will  to  have  it 
will  go  far  toward  securing  it.  Scholars  are 
quick  to  gauge  a  teacher's  mettle,  and  to  take 
color  from  his  strength  or  weakness.  A  steady 
eye,  a  cool  head,  a  still  tongue,  a  firm  hand  of 
control,  will  be  contagious. 

Have  a  plan,  and  follow  it.  Plan  each  step 
of  the  day's  work  beforehand.  Have  in  mind 
especially  the  class  disturbers,  and  allow  no  op- 
portunity for  them  to  get  in  the  lead.  Plan  the 
lesson  study  for  them;  know  what  and  how  much 
you  intend  to  review  of  last  Sunday's  lesson. 
Select  the  texts  that  will  set  in  order  the 
"connecting  links,"  and  have  the  scholars 
turn  to  them.  Make  a  list  of  the  obscure 
words  and  allusions  of  the  day's  lesson,  and 
set  the  class  at  work  upon  them.  Have  ques- 
tions ready  in  mind  or  on  paper,  simple  and 


62  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

direct;  and  plan  in  advance  what  scholars  shall 
answer  them. 

Arrest  inattention  the  moment  it  begins.  A 
look,  a  touch  of  the  hand,  a  quick  question,  an 
instant  use  of  the  inattentive  scholar  in  any  way 
whatever,  will  bring  him  back  into  line.  Silence 
for  a  moment,  without  a  look  or  word  to  indicate 
why  you  are  silent,  will  prove  an  effective  device. 

Make  the  scholar*  th  ink.  Give  them  time  to  do 
their  thinking.  Do  not  hurry  from  one  point  to 
another.  Much  inattention  comes  from  mental 
indigestion.  Set  a  question  before  the  class 
within  their  capacity,  and  encourage  and  stimu- 
late their  thinking  upon  it. 

Take  pa  his  to  make  plain.  Once  get  a  boy  or 
girl  to  see  a  new  idea  plainly,  and  to  know  it 
clearly,  and  you  will  not  be  troubled  by  his  lack  of 
interest.  Taking  verse  by  verse  the  lesson,  and 
making  each  verse  so  plain  that  the  scholar  can 
pat  it  into  his  own  language,  is  fine  Bible  teach- 
ing. If  only  one  thing  in  the  lesson  for  a  Sun- 
day is  set  in  clear  light  in  the  scholar's  mind,  he 
will  become  a  help  to  your  teaching. 

Shun  routine  teaching.  Never  go  in  routine 
order  around  your  class.  Put  each  scholar  on 
his  mettle  by  surprising  him.  Let  the  one  lack- 
ing in  interest  bear  the  heavier  burden  of  ques- 
tioning and  work.  Ply  him  with  special  tasks, 
and  he  will  soon  take  the  hint. 


Teaching  Points.  63 

Do  not  fret  over  inattention.  If  you  fail  to 
get  it,  say  nothing  and  keep  on  trying.  Fret- 
ting is  a  sure  note  of  defeat,  and  an  invitation 
to  greater  inattention.  Better  disorder  than  ir- 
ritability. 

*  Rest  your  class  from  time  to  time  by  a  story  or 
a  picture  or  some  illustrative  object.  If  only  a 
word  or  a  crude  picture  on  class  slate  or  paper, 
the  act  of  putting  it  before  the  eyes  of  the  class 
will  banish  restlessness  and  regain  attention. 
Let  it  tell  upon  the  lesson. 

Commend  the  attentive.  Do  this  sparingly, 
and  be  sure  it  is  specially  deserved.  Unmerited 
compliments  soon  nauseate,  but  a  timely  word 
of  approval  may  win  hearty  cooperation  from 
one  on  whom  it  is  wisely  bestowed. 

Discourage  the  "smart"  scholars.  There  are 
some  of  these  in  every  class.  They  are  quicker 
mentally,  or  have  better  home  help,  and  are  apt 
to  take  the  lead  of  the  class.  They  grow  perter, 
while  the  dull  ones  grow  duller.  Give  them  the 
hard  work  of  the  lesson,  but  do  not  let  them 
monopolize  it.  Draw  out  the  dull  scholars. 
Find  something  in  range  for  them  to  do. 

III.  As  to  Teaching. 

Do  not  teach  too  much.  One  or  two  good 
points  will  be  enough  for  the  day. 

Do  not  stress  the  unimportant  things.     Merely 
5 


64  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

glance  at  them  and  pass  on.  Make  the  geogra- 
phy, history,  customs,  etc.,  a  means  to  an  end. 
Do  not  waste  the  hour  on  nonessentials. 

Do  not  have  the  lesson  "read  round."  It  is 
a  waste  of  time  and  a  bar  to  attention. 

Test  home  study.  Expect  it,  insist  upon  it, 
question  upon  it,  assign  advance  tasks  that  will 
secure  it. 

Stick  to  the  lesson  text.  Have  it  always  before 
the  eye.  Have  it  read  directly  from  the  Bible. 
Take  care  as  to  its  hard  and  strange  words. 
Form  the  habit  in  your  scholars  of  noting  what 
the  Bible  says,  word  for  word. 

Do  not  tell  the  scholar  what  he  already  knows 
or  ought  to  know.  Make  him  tell  it  to  you. 
Draw  out  his  knowledge,  and  repress  your  own 
until  needed. 

Encourage  questioning  if  along  the  line  of 
the  lesson,  but  discourage  mere  discussion. 
Decide  doubtful  points  with  authority,  and 
pass  on. 

Never  ask  questions  that  answer  themselves. 
Make  your  questions  simple,  direct,  incisive,  so 
that  they  cannot  be  answered  without  thought. 
Gather  up  the  threads.  Before  the  lesson 
ends,  review  its  strong  points,  and  set  it  in  order 
as  you  would  have  it  carried  home.  Take  time 
to  do  this. 

.Make    a  personal   application.     Never  close 


Teaching  Points.  65 

without  it.     The  lesson  has  a  saving  truth  in  it, 
or  a  truth  that  edifies  and  makes  for  character! 
Prove  what  this  is  both  in  mind  and  life  your- 
self.     Be  sure  to  press  it  lovingly  and  prayerful 
ly,  as  the  one  thing  of  the  day's  work. 


IX.  CLASS  PROBLEMS. 

Every  Sunday  school  teacher  is  confronted 
with  certain  class  problems  which  must  be  solved 
one  way  or  another.  The  following  are  the  most 
importa7.1t  of  these  problems: 

I.  The  Physical  Problem. 

1.  Number. — What  number  of  scholars  should 
the  teacher  have  under  his  teaching?  The  an- 
swer depends  upon  the  facilities  for  the  work. 
Where  all  classes  are  massed  in  one  room,  which 
is  commonly  the  case,  the  maximum  number 
should  be  not  more  than  ten.  Beyond  this  are 
confusion,  inability  to  hear,  inattention.  Where 
there  are  separate  class  rooms,  the  teacher,  if  a 
competent  one,  can  teach  as  many  as  can  be 
seated  comfortably.  The  best  work,  however, 
is  done  in  small  classes,  where  the  personal  ele- 
K3  nt  can  operate. 

2.  Seating. — After  number  is  considered, 
comes  the  question  of  how  to  seat  a  class  for  ef- 
fective work.  Simple  as  this  seems,  it  is  the 
rock  on  which  not  a  few  split.  Imagine  a  teach- 
er with  ten  scholars  arranged  in  one  long  pew, 
himself  at  one  end,  and  mischief  at  work  at  the 
other,  and  the  scene  becomes  a  real  one  in  some 

(66) 


Class  Problems.  67 

schools.  The  sensible  thing  to  do  is  to  seat  the 
class  in  Wo  short  lines,  so  that  those  farthest 
away  can  hear  and  see  and  he  heard  and  seen  by 
the  teacher,  who  should  place  himself  near  the 
center  of  the  class,  and  stand  rather  than  sit. 

3.  Quiet. — This  is  first  physically.  Order  is 
not  only  heaven's  but  earth's  first  law.  The 
teacher's  quiet  manner  begets  quiet.  A  loud- 
voiced  teacher  should  be  declared  a  nuisance  and 
abated.  Sometimes  the  superintendent  is  maker 
of  disorder.  He  harrows  teacher  and  class  by 
restless  movement,  more  commonly  by  sending 
out  secretary  and  treasurer  among  the  classes. 
It  is  a  mark  of  an  incompetent  superintendent 
or  teacher  who  mixes  noise  and  confusion  with 
the  hour  sacred  to  teaching  the  Word  of  God. 
Rather  let  the  teacher  wait  for  the  angel  of 
peace  to  descend,  if  nothing  more  is  attempted 
during  the  entire  hour. 

II.  The  Problem  of  Grading. 

1.  Authority. — Who  shall  have  the  fixing  of 
the  scholars  in  class,  is  a  vital  problem  in  a  sys- 
tem of  efficient  grading.  Often  the  whim  of  the 
scholar  determines  it,  to  the  confusion  and  hurt 
of  the  school.  The  only  safe  way  is  to  have  a 
system  by  which  classes  are  to  be  formed  and 
scholars  assigned.  The  authority  to  do  this 
ought  to  be  vested  in  superintendent  and  teach' 


68  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

er  jointly,  and  the  scholar  should  stay  in  the 
class  to  which  he  has  been  assigned.  Anything 
less  than  a  reasonable  plan  like  this  introduces  a 
lawless  spirit  into  the  school,  and  concerts  the 
scholars  into  masters  rather  than  pupils. 

2,  Age. — The  ideal  theory  of  grading  a  Sun- 
day school  is  upon  the  educational  basis.  Some 
schools  have  attempted  this,  but  few  have  had 
success.  The  only  practical  method  of  grading, 
in  view  of  the  things  peculiar  to  a  Sunday  school, 
is  upon  a  basis  of  age.  Like  follows  like. 
Scholars  of  like  ages  gravitate  together,  and  are 
not  easily  separated  in  a  school  whieh  must  de- 
pend upon  the  power  of  love  rather  than  upon 
authority.  The  consensus  of  many  schools  has 
made  it  plain  that  the  best  work  is  done  when 
scholars  of  the  same  age,  and  consequently  of 
the  same  spirit  and  temper,  are  put  into  the  same 
class. 

3.  Sex. — The  matter  of  sex  enters  into  the 
question  of  grading.  As  a  rule  it  is  best  to  sep- 
arate boys  and  girls,  even  more  in  a  Sunday 
school  than  in  a  day  school.  Little  children  may 
be  classed  together  without  regard  to  sex.  Boys 
and  girls  from  ten  years  upward  need  to  be  put 
into  separate  classes.  It  is  the  "ugly  age,"  of 
which  every  experienced  teacher  and  parent  has 
a  well-founded  fear.  Young  men  and  women, 
in  whom  are  the  beginnings  of  a  mutual  respect 


Class  Problems*  69 

/nd  courtesy,  may  be  placed  together  in  class; 
out  even  here  a  wise  teacher  is  demanded. 
Dame  Nature  has  a  way  of  playing  pranks,  even 
while  holding  a  Bible  in  her  lap. 

4.  Conduct. — How  a  scholar  habitually  be- 
haves has  much  todo  in  fixing  his  place  in  class. 
It  is  a  blunder  to  mix  the  good  and  the  bad  in 
disposition  indiscriminately.  One  disorderly 
boy  can  wreck  a  class.  A  teacher  who  is  capa- 
ble of  managing  a  well-disposed  class  may  be 
hopelessly  handicapped  by  having  a  bad  scholar 
thrust  upon  him.  If  good  conduct  is  dominant 
in  a  class,  the  mixing  in  of  one  or  more  disorder- 
ly ones  may  not  harm  the  orderly  majority;  but 
it  is  better  to  isolate  the  bad,  and  assign  to  them 
the  teacher  whose  tact  and  patience  have  been 
proved. 

5.  Promotion. — Regular,  stated  promotion, 
from  class  to  class,  from  department  to  depart- 
ment, under  a  plan  of  honorable  recognition, 
though  based  only  on  age  and  continuance  in 
membership,  is  essential  to  a  successful  system 
of  grading.  A  Sunday  school  that  has  no  pro- 
motions at  stated  times,  and  no  stimulus  to  con- 
stancy of  membership,  is  not  doing  its  best  work. 

III.  The  Problem  of  Attendance. 

1.  Tardiness.— Tardiness  is  the  vice  of  many 
schools.     A  tardy  scholar  or  teacher  harms  him- 


70  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

self,  but  he  does  a  greater  harm  to  the  school. 
One  reason  for  tardiness  is  the  inconsiderate- 
nessof  the  teachers,  who  hold  it  of  little  account 
and  thereby  put  a  premium  upon  it.  In  its  last 
analysis,  it  is  one  of  the  gravest  evils  of  the 
Sunday  school.  It  is  a  question  of  religion. 
The  boy  or  girl  brought  up  to  tardiness  in  Sun- 
day school,  and  encouraged  in  it  by  his  teach- 
er's .indifference,  will  be  without  a  fine  con- 
science about  keeping  faith  with  others  when  he 
is  grown. 

2.  Irregular  Attendance. — One  breeds  the  other. 
The  teacher  or  scholar  who  begins  with  tardi- 
ness will  soon  not  come  at  all,  or  come  so  fitful- 
ly as  to  make  life  a  burden  to  the  school.  One 
day's  absence  from  the  class  may  break  the  teach- 
er's spell  over  it  for  months.  A  teacher  of  poor- 
est ability  and  crudest  preparation,  in  constant 
attendance,  will  do  more  for  a  school  than  a  the- 
ological professor  who  "comes  when  he  feels 
like  it." 

3.  Rewards  and  Honors. — These  have  their 
rightful  place  in  the  school,  and  will  help  in 
solving  the  problem  of  attendance.  It  will  de- 
pend upon  the  extent  to  which  they  are  used, 
and  the  method  of  use.  Prize-giving  is  hurtful. 
In  a  Western  city  a  school  offered  money  and 
jewelry  for  new  scholars.  They  came,  and  in  a 
year  overran  the  school;  but  in  a  year  more  the 


Class  Problems.  11 

school  was  a  stench  in  the  nostrils  of  the  Church, 
and  the  scholars  had  gone  with  its  money  and 
trinkets.  A  prize  puts  the  wrong  motive  before 
the  scholar.  A  reward  is  something  that  ap- 
peals to  the  pride  of  the  scholar  in  his  good  work 
and  record.  The  reward  should  be  in  reach  of 
all,  and  not  like  the  prize  for  the  fortunate  few 
only.  The  "Roll  of  Honor"  should  be  the 
limit  of  reward. 

4.  Parental  Assistance. — This  is  the  strongest 
factor  in  bringing  about  a  better  attendance. 
There  is  a  Jewish  school  in  New  York  that  uses 
it  with  great  power.  Even  the  godless  homes 
responded  to  the  earnest  appeals  sent  forth  by 
this  school,  and  no  body  of  children  and  young 
people  average  higher  in  faithfulness  and  prompt- 
ness of  attendance.  The  authority  and  help  of 
the  father  and  mother  are  indispensable  to  the 
teacher.  He  can  enlist  it  upon  his  side  if  he  will 
seek  diligently  after  it.  It  may  often  be  had  for 
the  asking. 

5.  The  Power  to  Interest. — After  all  is  said  and 
done,  the  problem  of  fine  attendance  goes  back 
to  the  teacher's  self.  Has  he  power  to  in- 
terest the  young?  Devices,  like  threads  under 
pressure,  snap  without  this  quality.  "Whence 
does  the  power  to  interest  young  people  come? 
What  is  the  price  to  pay  for  it?  The  answer  is, 
by  study.    It  takes  something  interesting  to  in- 


72  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

terest.  Nothing  will  be  found  like  a  warm  heart 
and  a  full  mind  to  draw  scholars  on  time  from 
the  home  on  Sunday  mornings.  Horses,  sheep, 
even  hogs,  know  where  the  "feed1'  is  to  be 
found,  and  no  educational  devices  have  been 
needed  to  draw  them.  "The  ass  knoweth  his 
master's  crib."  Study  the  lessons,  think  on 
them,  fertilize  them,  fill  mind  and  heart  to  over- 
flowing, and  boys  and  girls  will  find  it  out  and 
come,  and  keep  coming. 


X.  HOW  TO  SECURE  ATTENTION. 

I.   Its  Importance. 

1.  Definition. — Attention  is  an  effort  of  the 
mind  to  fix  itself  upon  a  single  subject  of  study. 
It  means  literally  the  ''stretching  forth"  of  the 
mental  faculties  in  one  particular  direction,  the 
concentration  of  the  thinking  powers  upon  one 
thing  at  a  time.  The  main  difference  among 
men  mentally  is  in  the  measure  of  ability  to  thus 
hold  the  mind  to  a  subject.  Dickens  defines 
genius  as  "the  ability  to  put  one's  powers  of 
thought  for  a  required  time  upon  one  subject." 

2.  Kinds  of  Attention. — There  are  two  ways 
by  which  attention  operates:  spontaneously,  and 
by  self-constraint.  The  former  is  like  the  wind: 
it  "bloweth  where  it  listeth."  The  will  takes 
no  control  over  it.  It  follows  the  lead  of  curi- 
osity, and  is  wayward  and  spasmodic.  Of  such 
is  the  child's  attention — "pleased  with  a  rattle 
and  tickled  with  a  straw."  The  latter  method 
of  attention  is  the  only  rational  and  educational 
one.  It  makes  one's  mind  a  servant,  and  holds 
it  to  its  tasks  by  force  of  will.  It  is  self-com- 
pelling and  constraining,  and  makes  attention  a 
duty,   not  a  diversion  or  passing  mood.     It  is 

era) 


74  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

slow  of  growth,  is  a  creature  of  education,  re- 
quires patient  and  skillful  training  to  develop 
it,  but  is  worth  many  times  the  cost.  Adam 
Clarke's  mother  learned  the  secret  of  it  in  deal- 
ing with  his  boyish  dullness.  Thomas  Edison 
began  to  acquire  it  when  a  youthful  tramp  teleg- 
rapher. Just  now  certain  Sunday  school  writers 
are  making  a  "fad"  of  what  they  call  "volun- 
tary attention."  Nothing  must  be  required;  ev- 
erything of  study  must  follow  the  passing  whim 
and  impulse  of  the  child.  Bible  sweetmeats  and 
sugar-coated  pellets  of  doctrine,  designed  to 
whet  the  appetite  and  to  "entertain"  the  little 
ones  after  perverted  kindergarten  fashion,  are 
to  take  the  place  of  old-fashioned  scriptural 
training  of  the  child  in  the  way  he  should  go. 

3.  The  Habit  of  Attention. — It  is  the  forma- 
tion of  the  habit  of  self-constrained  attention  that 
devolves  upon  the  Sunday  school  teacher.  No 
child  is  too  young  to  begin  its  attainment ;  and 
no  teacher,  however  unskilled  himself,  or  dull 
and  wayward  his  scholars,  should  desist  from  a 
determined  effort  to  secure  such  habitual  atten- 
tion. The  responsibility  is  with  the  teacher.  If 
his  scholars  are  dull  and  listless  in  Bible  study, 
it  is  his,  not  their,  fault.  As  vital  as  the  breath 
to  the  body  is  the  scholar's  attention  to  the 
teacher's  teaching.  There  can  be  no  teaching 
"without  a  mutual  effort — the  teacher  seeking  to 


How  to  Secure  Attention.  75 

impart  knowledge,  the  scholar  striving  mentally 
to  lay  hold  upon  it.  The  teacher's  inflexible 
motto  should  be:  "I  must  know;  my  scholars 
must  heed."  Where  there  is  a  will,  there  will 
be  found  a  way. 

II.    The  Physical  Conditions. 

A  disposition  to  study  and  to  think  depends 
upon  physical  conditions,  especially  with  chil- 
dren and  youth.  These  conditions  are  not  always 
under  the  control  of  the  teacher;  but  as  far  as 
practicable  the  comfort  of  Sunday  school  schol- 
ars must  be  secured.  The  Sunday  school  build- 
ing of  the  twentieth  century  will  solve  many  of 
the  physical  problems  of  to-day.  Meantime  let 
the  teacher  make  note  of  the  following  aids  to 
attention: 

1.  Ventilation. — Pure  air  is  cheap  and  abun- 
dant, and  impure  air  will  dull  the  finest  teach- 
ing. One  has  only  to  note  how  often  flagging 
attention  is  due  to  this  commonplace  cause. 

2.  Light. — The  use  of  dingy  church  basements 
for  the  children  of  the  church,  in  order  to  spare 
the  carpeted  aisles  and  cushioned  pews  of  the 
bright  auditorium  above  for  the  big  folks,  is  a 
fruitful  cause  of  inattention.  Light  is  as  essen- 
tial to  the  mental  as  to  the  physical  comfort  of 
the  child.  To  save  the  carpets  and  spoil  the 
children  is  not  economy. 


76  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

3.  The  Seating.  —  Much  depends  upon  this. 
With  one  room,  crowded  by  many  classes,  all 
being  taught  simultaneously,  the  teacher  must 
consider  the  seating.  In  such  case  not  more 
than  ten  scholars  should  constitute  a  class. 
They  should  be  grouped  about  the  teacher,  him- 
self in  the  center,  eye  to  eye,  each  scholar  easi- 
ly hearing  him,  and  easily  seen  and  heard  by 
him. 

4.  Closed  Books. — Any  lesson  book,  paper, 
"help,"  used  by  teacher  or  scholars  during  the 
class  work  is  a  nonconductor.  Minds  touch 
one  another  and  produce  the  shock  of  attention 
through  the  eye.  The  teacher  who  fixes  his  eye 
upon  the  eyes  of  the  scholars  will  discover  one 
of  the  choicest  secrets  of  teaching.  Therefore 
every  distracting  piece  of  printed  matter,  even 
the  Bible  itself,  except  as  the  teacher  may  read 
or  have  a  scholar  read  a  needed  verse,  should  be 
put  by  from  the  first  to  the  last  moment  of  the 
class  work. 

5.  Illustrative  Helps. — Nothing  holds  atten- 
tion so  well  as  a  timely  illustration.  One  never 
grows  too  old  to  be  fond  of  stories  and  pictures. 
Anything  that  helps  to  make  plain  the  lesson  is 
an  illustration,  whether  story,  picture,  map,  out- 
line, blackboard  drawing,  rude  paper  sketch,  or 
object  of  whatever  kind.  The  simple  and  famil- 
iar things  are  best.     An  illustration  that  takes 


JEToto  to  Secure  Attention.  77 

the  mind  off  the  truth,  and  leaves  it  thinking  of 
the  illustration,  is  a  failure.  Christ's  illustra- 
tions were  homely  and  transparent,  and  came 
from  familiar  objects  about  him.  Every  teach- 
er should  bring  to  the  lesson  something  that  will 
help  to  make  plain  its  teachings.  One  noted 
teacher  uses  a  class  slate,  upon  which  drawings, 
maps,  etc.,  are  prepared,  and  passes  it  along  the 
class.  Stories  are  good,  pictures  are  better, 'fa- 
miliar objects  or  experiences  of  daily  life  are 
best.  A  little  ingenuity  and  painstaking  by  a 
teacher  will  gather  a  number  of  illustrations  for 
any  lesson.  The  simple  object  or  story,  for  eye 
or  ear,  will  make  plain  a  hard  truth  and  fix  it  in 
the  memory  of  the  class. 

III.  Suggestive  Methods. 
As  to  the  Teacher 's  Part. 

1.  The  teacher's  thorough  preparation  is  his 
first  step  toward  attention.  The  liberty  and  con- 
fidence which  this  will  impart  will  do  more  than 
anything  else  to  attract  the  scholar.  Not  know- 
ing thoroughly  what  he  is  to  teach,  a  cloud  is 
upon  him,  and  he  is  nervous  and  often  irritable 
and  obtuse. 

2.  Let  the  teacher  use  tact  in  dealing  with  his 
scholars,  especially  in  drawing  out  the  dull 
scholars  and  in  engaging  the  bright  ones.  The 
way  to  a  boy's  mind  is  by  way  of  his  heart,  and 


78  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

the  short  cut  to  a  boy's  heart  is  the  teacher's 
personal  interest  in  him  and  in  what  he  likes  and 
dislikes. 

3.  The  teacher  must  have  enthusiasm  and  make 
use  of  it.  Like  begets  like.  "The  letter  killeth, 
but  the  spirit  giveth  life."  Boys  and  girls  are 
full  of  life,  physically  and  mentally.  Nothing 
drives  a  class  into  listlessness  and  stupidity  like 
the  dull,  leaden  face  and  voice  of  a  perfunctory 
teacher  who  comes  to  his  task  without  energy  or 
enthusiasm. 

4.  Some  scholars  need  the  bit;  some,  the  spur. 
A  bright  scholar  will  need  to  be  kept  busy  to 
hold  his  attention;  a  dull  scholar  will  need  to 
be  led  step  by  step.  As  a  rule,  it  is  more  diffi- 
cult to  hold  the  quick-minded  than  the  dull.  The 
teacher  must  feel  his  way  until  he  has  learned 
to  know  the  mental  conditions  of  each  scholar. 
Attention  is  not  arrested  or  maintained  en  masse. 
There  will  be  as  many  problems  to  solve  as  there 
are  scholars  in  the  class. 

5.  Some  teachers  waste  time  and  lose  oppor- 
tunity to  secure  attention  by  starting  tediously 
and  haltingly  into  the  lesson.  Let  not  a  moment 
be  wasted.  Plunge  at  once  into  the  lesson. 
Plan  the  opening  words  to  catch  eye  and  ear. 
Make  the  best  impression  first.  Look  into  the 
eyes  of  the  scholars,  and  begin  without  hesita- 
tion or  preface. 


How  to  Secure  Attention.  79 

As  to  the  Scholar's  Part. 

1.  Do  not  have  the  lesson  "read  round,"  verse 
by  verse.  If  necessary,  begin  by  reading  the 
first  verse  and  asking  questions  upon  it  in  quick 
succession. 

2.  Hold  each  scholar  responsible  for  every 
question  asked  and  every  statement  made  dur- 
ing the  lesson,  as  though  each  scholar  consti- 
tuted the  class.  Take  for  your  class  motto: 
"All  the  class,  all  the  time." 

3.  Keep  every  scholar  employed  as  far  as  pos- 
sible. The  minute  the  attention  of  one  is  flag- 
ging, give  him  special  work  to  do — a  question 
to  answer,  a  text  to  read,  etc. 

4.  Encourage  the  scholars  who  give  attention. 
Speak  a  kind  word  or  write  a  kind  note,  remark- 
ing upon  it.  Do  this  privately  rather  than  pub- 
licly. If  the  class  as  a  whole  is  giving  attention, 
commend  them  publicly  for  it. 

5.  Give  every  scholar  advance  work  the  Sun- 
day before.  It  will  stimulate  his  interest  and 
attention. 

6.  As  attention  wanes,  let  the  teacher's  inter- 
est and  energy  increase.  It  will  often  call  back 
the  wandering  thought  of  the  class. 

7.  Allow  no  interruptions  or  distractions  while 
you  are  teaching.  If  unavoidable,  stop  teaching 
until  it  has  passed;  then  begin  again.  Under  no 
circumstances  try  to  teach  while  the  spirit  of 

6 


80  The  Sunday  School  Ikacher. 

restlessness  is  rife  in  the  class.  It  is  waste  of 
time  and  effort.  Change  your  method,  intro- 
duce your  illustrations,  wait  in  silence  without 
fretting;  but  resolve,  by  God's  help  and  the  use 
of  every  power  he  has  given  you,  that  you  must 
and  will  have  attention.  If  that  is  your  spirit  and 
purpose,  your  success  is  certain 


XI.  HOW  TO  OTESTXON, 

I.   The  Value  of  Questioktwo 

The  art  of  questioning  underlies,  is.Il  success- 
ful teaching.  The  Great  Teacher  made  constant 
use  of  it.  The  Gospels  narrate  how  frequently 
he  questioned  his  friends  or  his  enemies.  Ques- 
tion and  counter  question  attended  his  dis- 
courses. He  made  plain  the  way  for  the  truth, 
and  fixed  it  securely  in  the  consciences  of  his 
hearers,  by  questioning.  He  answered  questions 
with  questions,  baffling  the  cunning  of  his  op- 
posers  by  an  incisive  question.  So  with  other 
great  teachers,  ancient  and  modern.  The  meth- 
od of  questioning  is  termed  "Socratic,"  because 
of  its  use  by  the  famous  Athenian  teacher.  Sun- 
day school  questioning  has  five  uses: 

1.  To  Test  the  Scholar's  Preparation. — Every 
lesson  should  begin  with  this  test.  Whatever 
the  scholars  know  of  the  lesson  should  be  drawn 
from  them  by  direct  questioning.  In  no  other 
way  can  their  home  study  be  so  well  tested  or 
secured.  If  a  class  knows  it  must  undergo  this 
ordeal  of  questions,  there  will  be  responsive 
preparation  in  the  home.  It  is  thus  that  the 
secular  teacher  introduces  his  class  work.     Its 

(81) 


82  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

further  value  is  in  determining  what  the  teach- 
er is  to  teach.  In  ascertaining  how  much  or 
how  little  the  scholars  know,  he  finds  his  own 
"point  of  departure." 

2.  To  Fix  the  Scholar's  Attention, — Nothing 
holds  the  youthful  mind  in  an  attitude  of  atten- 
tion like  the  well-timed  question  of  the  teacher. 
Questions  are  like  the  antennae  of  the  insect: 
they  reach  out  and  lay  hold  upon  the  scholar's 
thought.  The  teacher  who  talks  much  and 
questions  little  has  a  listless  class. 

3.  To  Stimulate  the  Scholar's  Thought. — 
Questioning  awakens  the  mind.  There  is  an  in- 
sinuating and  disturbing  quality  in  a  well-put 
question  that  provokes  thought,  and  will  not  al- 
low the  mind  to  rest  until  it  is  answered  and 
made  plain  to  the  understanding.  There  is,  too, 
in  most  scholars  a  pride  that  delights  itself  in 
wrestling  with  and  vanquishing  the  questions 
ihat  assail  it. 

4.  To  Review  the  Teachings. — After  the  facts 
and  teachings  of  the  lesson  have  been  brought 
out  by  the  teacher,  there  should  be  questioning 
to  test  the  understanding  of  the  scholars.  The 
surest  way  to  fix  the  salient  points  of  the  lesson 
in  the  mind  of  the  scholar  is  to  have  him  tell 
them  back,  and  questioning  is  the  simplest  and 
best  way  to  set  in  motion  this  review. 

5.  To  Prove  the   Teacher's   Own   Work. — The 


Hoio  to  Question.  83 

teacher  needs  to  do  this,  or  he  will  not  know 
how  well  he  is  teaching.  The  teacher's  ques- 
tions are  one  half  the  circle,  the  scholar's  an- 
swers are  the  other  half;  it  takes  both  to  make 
the  complete  circle  of  success.  If  the  question- 
ing discloses  an  orderly  understanding  of  the 
facts  and  teachings  of  the  lesson,  the  teacher's 
work  is  proved. 

II.  How  to  Prepare  Questions. 

1.  Use  the  Lesson  Text. — Begin  early  in  the 
week.  Take  the  Bible  only.  Read  the  lesson 
over  and  over.  Take  the  verses  of  the  lesson, 
one  by  one,  and  think  out  simple  questions  as  to 
the  facts  stated,  the  meaning  of  the  words  used, 
the  spiritual  teachings  that  come  naturally  out 
of  the  lesson. 

2.  Write  Out  Your  Questions. — After  think- 
ing your  way  through  the  lesson,  verse  by  verse, 
go  back  to  the  beginning  and  write  down  the 
questions  that  come  to  you,  one  or  more  upon 
each  verse.  See  that  they  bring  out  the  chief 
points  in  each  verse  and  are  in  orderly  succes- 
sion. "Writing,"  says  Lord  Bacon,  "maketh 
the  exact  man,"  and  this  careful  and  persistent 
method  of  writing  down  one's  questions  upon 
paper  is  the  surest  way  to  attain  the  art  of 
questioning. 

3.  Keep  in  Mind  Your  Scholars. — The  peril 


84  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

of  the  teacher  is  the  tendency  to  aim  his  ques- 
tions above  the  scholar's  mark.  Remember  the 
dull  as  well  as  the  bright  scholars,  and  fit  your 
questions  accordingly.  Every  scholar  in  the 
class,  in  his  home  life,  in  his  social,  mental, 
and  spiritual  qualities,  should  pass  in  succes- 
sion before  the  mind  of  the  teacher  as  he  pre- 
pares his  questions.  To  do  this  well  is  indeed 
an  art,  but  one  possible  to  attain  and  worthy  of 
attainment. 

4.  Use  the  Lesson  Helps. — These,  by  their 
questions  and  hints,  will  further  supplement 
the  teacher's  own  stock  of  questions.  But  do 
not  slavishly  use  the  questions  in  the  "helps"  in 
your  preparation  or  class  work.  Your  art  will 
grow  only  by  patient  and  self-dependent  prac- 
tice. The  teacher  who  relies  upon  the  ques- 
tions prepared  by  others  is  David  fighting  in  the 
armor  of  Saul.     Better  use  the  shepherd  sling. 

5.  Study  Your  Questions.. —  After  you  have 
thought  out  what  you  wish  your  scholars  to 
learn,  and  have  gone  through  the  text  verse 
by  verse,  writing  questions  to  this  end,  and 
have  further  enlarged  your  stock  of  questions 
from  a  study  of  the  questions  of  others,  take  up 
each  question  in  order,  and  see  if  it  is  simple 
and  plain  and  to  the  point,  neither  too  easy  nor 
too  difficult  for  your  class.  Does  it  help  to 
stir  the  thought  of  the  scholar  and  test  his  un- 


How  to   Question.  85 

derstanding?.  Does  it  bear  pointedly  upon  the 
great  spiritual  truths  of  the  lesson,  helping  to 
set  them  in  clearer  light?  If  not,  run  your  pen- 
cil through  it,  and  retain  only  the  approved 
ones.  Then  read  your  questions  over  and  over, 
and  think  of  their  fitness  for  this  or  that  schol- 
ar. Lastly,  tear  up  your  questions,  or  commit 
them  to  the  scrap  basket.  Heed  the  counsel  of 
one  who  was  a  veteran  among  teachers,  and 
"  shoot  without  a  rest." 

III.  "Wrong  Methods  of  Questioning. 

Practice  alone,  as  in  other  arts,  will  make 
perfect  in  the  art  of  questioning.  But  there 
are  certain  errors  in  the  use  of  questions  to 
which  young  teachers  are  subject.  However 
well  prepared  the  questions  themselves,  upon 
the  method  of  their  use  in  the  class  will  depend 
the  success  of  the  teacher;  just  as  the  modern 
"Winchester"  in  the  hands  of  the  holiday  hunt- 
er is  less  effective  than  an  old  "flintlock"  un- 
der the  trained  eye  of  a  Kentucky  rifleman. 
Some  of  the  blundering  forms  of  questioning 
are  as  follows: 

1.  Rote  Questions.  — The  teacher  begins  at 
the  head  of  his  class  and  passes  down  the  line 
of  scholars  in  one  invariable  succession,  putting 
a  premium  upon  inattention  at  one  end,  while 
he  is  striving  to  arrest  attention  at  the  other  end 


86  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

of  the  class.  There  is  small  hope  for  the  teach- 
er who  persists  in  this  method.  The  questions 
should  be  a  constant  surprise  to  the  class,  no 
scholar  knowing  beforehand  who  is  to  be  ques- 
tioned. 

2.  Leading  Questions. — These  involve  "yes" 
and  "no"  as  answers,  and  effectually  dull  every 
edge  of  thought  and  reflection  in  the  scholar: 
"Was  not  Solomon  son  of  David?"  "Is  not 
Paul  the  apostle  to  the  Gentiles?"  Let  the 
question  suggest  little  to  the  scholar,  and  shape 
it  so  that  the  scholar  and  not  the  teacher  shall  do 
the  thinking,  and  "carry  the  big  end  of  the  load." 

3.  Obscure  Questions. — These  are  put  in  am- 
biguous words,  and  confuse  and  perplex  the 
scholar.  "What  was  Peter?",  for  instance, 
may  have  several  different  answers,  and  leaves 
the  scholar  in  doubt  as  to  the  teacher's  intent. 
The  habit  of  writing  out  one's  questions  in  ad- 
vance, and  carefully  studying  them,  is  the  only 
corrective  against  obscurity. 

4.  Repeated  Questions. — Some  teachers  mar 
their  good  work  by  repeating  questions  once 
asked,  as  if  a  second  hearing  of  the  ques- 
tion were  better  than  the  first.  This  breeds  in- 
attention. Let  the  question  be  stated  once  only, 
plainly  and  audibly,  and  await  an  answer  with- 
out hurtful  repetition.  Akin  to  this  fault  is  the 
teacher's  repeating  the  scholar's  answer. 


How  to  Question.  87 

5.  General  Questions. — These  are  the  bane  of 
much  teaching,  if  teaching  it  can  be  called. 
The  teacher  asks  his  question,  and  leaves  it  to 
any  who  happen  to  know  to  answer.  No  one 
is  indicated  by  name  or  sign  to  make  an  an- 
swer, and  the  result  is  usually  a  discordant  re- 
ply from  a  few  members  of  the  class.  The 
bright  scholars,  as  a  consequence,  catch  up  the 
questions,  while  the  slower  ones,  who  most  need 
the  stimulus  of  questioning,  are  dull  and  silent. 
The  right  way  is  to  first  address  the  question  to 
the  entire  class,  and  train  them  to  wait  until 
some  scholar  is  named  to  make  answer.  Ques- 
tions should  be  first  put  individually,  and  con- 
cert answers  allowed  only  for  the  sake  of  em- 
phasis and  repetition.  A  safe  rule  is  for  the 
teacher  to  question  repeatedly  every  scholar  in 
every  lesson* 


XII.  HOW  TO  REVIEW. 

I.  The  Purpose  of  Reviews. 

The  teacher's  review  of  the  lesson  has  several 
important  ends  in  view,  chief  among  which  are: 

1.  To  Test  the  Scholar's  Learning. — This  is  the 
chief  purpose.  The  teacher  must  know  this  by 
some  kind  of  a  test,  and  the  review,  oral  or 
written,  is  the  only  practicable  one.  The  teach- 
er needs  to  know  how  much  and  how  well  the 
things  taught  are  being  learned.  To  assume 
this  without  testing  it  is  to  disregard  the  first 
principles  of  his  teaching  work. 

2.  To  Fix  Securely  in  the  Minds  of  the  Scholars 
What  is  Understood. — Once  understood,  every 
repetition  by  the  scholar,  like  the  graver's  tool, 
juts  the  truth  more  deeply  into  both  understand- 
ing and  memory.  It  is  a  law  of  the  mind  that  it 
sees  and  holds  most  strongly  what  comes  oftenest 
before  it.     This  is  especially  true  of  children. 

3.  To  Give  a  Comprehensive  Survey  of  Past 
Lessons. — In  the  first  teaching  of  a  lesson  minor 
details,  incidents,  and  illustrations  encumber 
the  mind  and  confuse  the  memory.  The  review 
should  omit  these,  and  retain  only  the  salient 
and  strong  points  of  the  lessons,  and  seek  to 

(88) 


Sow  to  Review.  89 

link  them  together  systematically.  The  Sun- 
day school  lessons,  while  based  upon  consecu- 
tive study,  often  appear  disjoined  and  isolated. 
The  review  ought  to  connect  these  lessons  as 
parts  of  a  whole;  otherwise  they  become  a  bur- 
den to  the  memory.  The  "law  of  association" 
must  be  utilized  by  the  reviewer  to  place  them  in 
some  form  of  relationship. 

4.  To  Stimulate  the  Scholar's  Home  Study. — 
The  review  compels  this  by  throwing  upon  the 
scholars  the  responsibility  for  understanding  and 
retaining  in  memory  what  has  been  taught,  and 
by  thus  arousing  an  interest  in  the  coming  les- 
sons. Hence  it  is  that  in  the  secular  schoolroom 
the  class  hour  is  often  given  to  a  review  of  the 
home  studies. 

5.  To  Prove  the  Teacher's  Own  Work. — This  is 
by  no  means  least  of  the  ends  of  the  review. 
The  readiness  of  a  class  in  review  will  be  the 
test  of  the  teacher's  efficiency.  It  is  a  severe 
test,  but  a  just  one.  If  little  is  understood  or 
remembered  of  all  that  he  has  taught,  the  fail- 
ure is  the  teacher's  and  not  the  scholar's.  It  is 
the  business  of  the  teacher  so  to  teach  that  his 
scholars  must  learn. 

II.  Time  for  the  Review. 

1.  There  should  be  a,  preview.  In  the  begin- 
ning of  the  quarter's  lessons  the  teacher  should 


90  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

take  time  to  run  over  the  titles  of  the  lessons, 
point  out  their  connection,  call  attention  to  les- 
sons of  special  importance,  and  arouse  an  inter* 
est  in  advance  of  the  quarter's  study.  A  few 
minutes  will  suffice  for  this,  and  the  time  will 
not  be  lost.  The  preview  catches  the  attention, 
preoccupies  the  scholar's  thought,  and  is  a  guide- 
post  to  better  study.  For  the  same  reason  and 
in  the  same  way  the  teacher,  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath,  should  give  helpful  hints  as  to  the  next 
lesson. 

2.  The  review  should  begin  and  attend  even) 
lesson.  The  last  lesson  (or  several  recent  les- 
sons) should  be  briefly  and  rapidly  called  up  in 
review.  One  of  our  most  successful  Sunday 
school  teachers  often  spends  half  the  class  hour 
in  thus  carefully  and  persistently  bringing  up 
past  lessons.  The  thoroughness  of  her  scholars 
is  confirmation  of  her  wisdom. 

3.  The  specially  hard  points  of  recent  lessons 
should  be  held  firmly  in  review  from  Sabbath  to 
Sabbath  until  it  is  plain  that  the  class  has  mas- 
tered them.  Every  teacher  knows  how  hard 
some  lessons  are  to  teach  in  the  few  minutes  of 
a  single  Sabbath.  He  knows,  too,  how  easily 
some  lessons  slip  into  the  minds  of  his  scholars.1 
It  is  here  that  the  review  should  be  seized  upon 
in  fixing  the  hard  things  of  past  Sabbaths. 

4.  In  summing  up  a  lesson  the  review  has  its 


How  to  Revievj.  91 

rightful  place.  Before  closing  a  lesson  for  the 
day,  the  teacher  should  call  up  its  main  points 
in  order  from  the  scholars.  The  class,  not  the 
teacher,  should  do  this  summing  up.  The  re- 
view should  not  degenerate  into  a  rehearsal  by 
the  teacher,  but  should  be  a  re-view  (a  second 
view)  by  the  scholars,  as  proof  that  they  under- 
stand and  remember. 

5.  There  should  invariably  be  a  quarterly  re- 
view at  the  end  of  the  quarter.  No  optional  les- 
son should  \q  allowed  to  take  its  place.  The 
quarterly  review  is  the  long-range  test  of  teacher 
and  scholars,  and  is  evidence  of  how  much  real 
and  permanent  knowledge  of  the  Bible  is  being 
acquired.  It  is  in  view  of  this  fact  that  in  re- 
cent years  teachers,  superintendents,  and  lesson 
writers,  who  were  once  disposed  to  minimize 
the  quarterly  review,  are  now  giving  special  at- 
tention to  the  best  methods  of  utilizing  it.  The 
quarterly  review,  however,  will  prove  tedious 
and  fruitless  unless  it  is  preceded  by  and  is  based 
upon  the  teacher's  reviews  from  Sabbath  to  Sab- 
bath. A  Sunday  school  writer  has  aptly  said 
that  "the  quarterly  review,  like  an  apple,  takes 
three  months  to  ripen." 

III.  The  Subject-Matter  of  Reviews. 

The  subject-matter  of  the  review  should  in- 
clude only  the  important  things  of  the  lessons. 


92  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

Many  a  review  breaks  down  with  the  weight  of 
the  little  things  imposed  upon  it.  These  little 
things,  at  the  time  of  their  teaching,  were  useful 
in  bringing  out  the  strong  points  of  a  lesson; 
but,  like  the  scaffolding  of  a  building,  should  be 
put  aside  when  their  purpose  is  served.  A  wise 
discrimination  as  to  what  should  go  into  the  re- 
view will  require  the  teacher's  careful  thought 
and  planning.  It  is  a  grave  question  whether  an 
extempore  review,  except  by  an  expert,  is  worth 
the  time  it  takes.  The  following  suggestions  as 
to  selection  of  the  subject-matter  for  reviews  are 
given  for  what  they  are  worth.  They  may  lead 
to  a  better  plan: 

1.  For  the  primary  department  let  the  review 
include  the  Titles  and  Golden  Texts  of  past  les- 
sons of  the  quarter,  provided  the  little  ones  un- 
derstand what  these  mean.  A  parroty  recitation 
is  worth  little.  Children,  however  small,  need 
to  understand. 

2.  For  the  intermediate  department  delude 
Titles,  Golden  Texts,  and  main  facts  of  the  lessons. 
The  facts  should  include  the  simplest  and  brief- 
est statements  of  the  chief  events. 

3.  In  the  junior  (from  twelve  to  sixteen  years), 
include  the  preceding  items,  and  add  to  them  a 
brief  statement  of  the  moral  and  spiritual  tan- fl- 
ings of  the  lessons.  Little  children  should  give 
the  concrete  things,  but  boys  and  girls  of  larger 


How  to  Review.  93 

mental  growth,  if  rightly  taught,  are  able  to  pass 
from  facts  to  doctrines. 

4.  For  young  men  and  women  of  the  advanced 
classes  (the  senior  department),  include  all  that 
is  requked  of  the  younger  scholars,  and  intro- 
duce the  topical  treatment  of  past  lessons.  This 
means  the  linking  together  into  one  connected 
statement  by  the  scholar  of  all  the  points  in  a 
lesson,  or  series  of  lessons,  relating  to  one  sub- 
ject. 

5.  For  the  older  Bible  classes,  a  review  is  as 
necessary  as  for  the  younger.  Indeed,  the  faih 
ing  memory  of  age  demands  the  more  frequent 
repetition.  But  with  their  maturer  minds  and 
larger  experiences,  the  review  should  incline  the 
more  to  a  study  of  Bible  characters  and  of  the 
great  doctrines  of  God's  Word.  The  simple  facts 
are  secondary;  the  teachings,  ethically  and  spir- 
itually, better  become  the  maturity  and  serious- 
ness of  their  study.  The  Golden  Texts,  however, 
as  "the  sincere  milk  of  the  word,"  should  be  re- 
quired of  the  old  as  of  the  young.  No  age  or  ad- 
vancement in  study  should  excuse  one  from  "hid- 
ing the  word  in  his  heart." 

IV.  Special  Hints. 

1.  Do  not  count  time  wasted  if  spent  in  review. 
If  half  the  teaching  be  thus  bestowed,  there  will 
be  gain. 


94  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

2.  Do  not  cherish  the  conceit  of  believing  that 
you  can  dispense  with  the  review.  It  is  likely 
that  you  are  much  in  need  of  it. 

3.  Prepare  for  your  review  as  carefully  as  you 
prepare  for  teaching  the  lesson.  Do  not  trust  to 
inspiration.  Inspiration  attends,  but  does  not 
take  the  place  of,  hard  work. 

4.  Find  a  connecting  chain  between  the  les- 
sons of  the  quarter,  and  build  your  reviews  upon 
it.  It  is  not  always  easy  to  do,  and  sometimes 
the  chain  of  connection  is  more  fanciful  than 
real;  but  any  connection,  if  only  a  compulsory 
one,  will  help  your  scholars'  memories. 

5.  Give  frequent  brief,  spirited  drills  upon 
persons,  places,  texts,  titles,  teachings  of  the 
series  of  lessons.  Take  five  minutes  or  more, 
and  drill  the  memory  rapidly  in  concert.  The 
memory  drill  is  the  powder  behind  the  ball. 

6.  Make  up  a  series  of  written  questions  from 
time  to  time,  and  ask  them  of  the  class,  check- 
ing off  those  not  readily  answered  as  a  hint  to 
future  reviews.  Better  still,  have  a  scholar 
make  up  a  list  of  questions,  and  take  place  as 
reviewer. 

7.  Use  the  printed  quarterly  review  questions. 
Assign  them  a  week  in  advance,  and  have  your 
scholars  bring  in  answers  in  writing.  Then 
grade  their  papers,  and  report  to  them  their 
grades. 


XIII.  TEACHING  LITTLE  CHILDREN. 

1.  Getting  Ready. — This  is  no  small  part  of 
the  primary  teacher's  work.  Little  minds,  like 
little  bodies,  require  more  care  than  larger 
ones,  and  the  work  of  preparation  is  half  the 
battle.  First,  the  place  should  begone  of  seclu- 
sion, as  far  as  practicable.  Curtains,  black- 
boards, or  screens  will  suffice  where  there  is  not 
a  separate  room.  In  the  opening  and  closing 
exercises  of  the  general  school,  the  little  ones 
should  be  near  the  superintendent,  who  should 
have  the  good  sense  to  bring  the  songs,  prayers, 
etc.,  down  to  their  level  as  much  as  possible, 
and  not  weary  them  with  exercises  in  which 
they  cannot  take  part.  The  classification  will 
depend  upon  the  number  and  the  ages.  In 
most  cases  it  is  better  to  divide  the  primary 
department  into  small  classes  or  groups  un- 
der assistants,  to  be  taught  the  lesson  in  de- 
tail, and  then  to  mass  them  for  review  and 
drill.  The  equipment  need  not  be  elaborate. 
A  small  blackboard,  the  large  weekly  lesson  pic- 
ture to  focalize  attention  and  aid  in  teaching, 
the  little  lesson  story  cards  for  home  study,  and 
a  child's  paper,  are  the  essentials.  Those  who 
can  read  should  have  their  Bibles.  The  musiCr 
7  (95) 


96  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

except  the  motion  songs  and  others  peculiar  to 
the  department,  should  be  the  hymns  of  the 
school  and  church,  which  children  can  be 
trained  to  sing  as  well  and  as  understanding^ 
as  the  older  ones.  The  special  exercises  of  the 
department  should  be  few  and  simple,  each 
with  a  definite  purpose  of  helpfulness.  Much 
time  that  might  be  profitably  used  in  teaching 
is  taken  up  with  showy  and  meaningless  so- 
called  "primary  exercises." 

2.  Molding  Attention. — Advising  is  easier  than 
doing.  The  restless  little  bodies,  the  irrepress- 
ible hands  and  feet  and  tongues  of  the  little 
ones,  perplex  the  best  teacher  at  times.  Atten- 
tion is  to  be  won,  not  compelled;  as  children  have 
not  learned  the  use  of  the  will  in  constraining 
attention  from  within,  but  must  be  led  along  by 
the  skill  and  patience  of  the  teacher. 

3.  The  Beginning. — A  right  beginning  is 
more  needful  with  children  than  with  adults. 
The  opening  moment  of  quiet,  the  first  look,  the 
first  words,  the  hush  of  expectancy  that  is  be- 
gotten of  the  teacher's  reverent  beginning,  will 
set  the  standard  of  work  for  the  day.  Of  all 
teachers,  the  one  in  charge  of  little  children  most 
needs  to  begin  her  work  gently  and  quietly. 

4.  The  Teacher's  Voice. — It  is  fortunate  for 
the  primary  teacher  if  her  voice  is  low  and 
sweet  by  nature.     If  not,  let  her  take  care  to 


Teaching  Little  Children.  97 

train  it  to  this  end.  Nothing  repels  attention 
or  arouses  the  spirit  of  disorder  among  children 
more  quickly  than  a  high-pitched,  rasping, 
"fussy"  voice  and  manner  on  the  part  of  the 
teacher.  The  quick  imitative.ness  of  childhood 
specially  enforces  this  admonition. 

5.  Variety. — Monotony  is  fatal  to  primary 
work,  A  set  programme  is  a  physical  and  men- 
tal burden  to  children.  In  a  great  school,  with 
hundreds  of  little  ones  in  the  primary  depart- 
ment, are  recalled  the  pathetic  looks  of  the  little 
sufferers  undergoing  from  Sabbath  to  Sabbath 
the  infliction  of  a  cut-and-dried  order  of  exer- 
cises and  teaching  from  a  pretentious  "Primary 
Manual."  Change  the  programme  often.  Vary 
the  singing,  shift  the  order,  deal  in  surprises, 
let  not  the  right  hand  know  what  the  left  hand 
doeth,  if  you  would  hold  attention  and  interest 
of  children.     Change  need  not  beget  confusion. 

6.  Illustration. — The  child's  mind  has  two 
gates,  "eye  gate"  and  "ear  gate."  More  pass- 
es through  the  former  than  through  the  latter, 
hence  the  need  of  the  objective  in  teaching. 
The  blackboard  is  indispensable,  not,  however, 
for  putting  on  elaborate  outlines  and  drawings. 
Little  David  needs  his  sling  and  pebbles.  The 
simplest  lines,  words,  and  pictures,  growing  out 
from  the  crayon  of  the  teacher  as  she  stands  at 
the  board  and  talks,  or  sits  with  class  p!°to  or 


98  The  Sunday  School  Teacher 

paper  before  her,  is  what  the  children  relish. 
But  do  not  be  a  slave  to  board  or  map,  picture 
or  chart.  Many  lessons  are  best  taught  eye  to 
eye,  without  objective  illustration.  Remember 
that  the  Bible  is  its  own  best  interpreter  and 
illustrator,  and  do  not  follow  the  example  of 
those  teachers  who  ransack  libraries  in  order  to 
secure  "striking"  illustrations  for  the  day's 
lesson,  or  devour  books  on  blackboard  illus- 
tration to  find  something  to  catch  the  attention. 
The  finest  primary  teacher  in  the  land  has  large- 
ly won  her  reputation  by  getting  her  illustra- 
tions from  the  two  sources  our  Lord  used — the 
Bible  and  the  simple  things  of  everyday  life. 

7.  Using  the  Bible. — No  small  part  of  the  pri- 
mary teacher's  work  is  the  cultivation  of  rever- 
ence for  God's  Book  in  the  hearts  of  the  chil- 
dren. To  this  end  the  Bible  should  be  in  the 
hand  of  the  teacher,  the  lesson  should  be  read 
from  it  to  the  children,  and  every  look  and  word 
of  the  teacher  should  conspire  to  deepen  the  im- 
pression upon  the  little  ones  that  it  is  God  who 
speaks  to*  them  through  this  Book.  As  early  as 
possible  the  children  should  be  expected  to  bring 
their  own  Bibles,  and  the  teacher  should  begin 
to  train  them  in  their  use. 

8.  Tlie  Story- Telling. — To  take  the  day's  les- 
son,, master  it  thoroughly,  put  it  the  form  of  a 
story,  and  then  teach  it  as  such  to  the  children. 


Teaching  Little,  CJdldren.  99 

is  the  simple  and  natural  method  of  primary 
teaching.  But  this  method  has  its  abuses.  One 
of  these  is  the  framing  of  a  story  whose  details 
are  largely  from  the  imagination  of  the  teach- 
er, and  are  unwarranted  by  the  Bible  original. 
The  craving  for  the  realistic  and  sensational, 
and  the  desire  to  play  upon  the  emotions  of  the 
children,  lie  behind  this  tendency.  Bible  sto- 
ries are  simple  and  beautiful  in  themselves,  and 
are  already  near  to  the  speech  of  childhood.  As 
far  as  possible  the  story-telling  of  the  lesson 
should  conform  to  the  words  and  facts  of  the 
sacred  Book,  and  the  utmost  accuracy  of  state- 
ment should  be  observed  by  the  teacher. 

9.  The  Telling  Back. — This  is  as  important  as 
the  first  telling  by  the  teacher,  as  it  tests  the 
thoroughness  of  her  work,  and  is  the  measure  of 
the  children's  learning.  No  lesson  story  should 
ever  be  told  to  children  without  the  "  tilling 
back  "  on  their  part.  The  reason  for  this  \&  two- 
fold: it  tests  how  well  they  learn,  and  serves  to 
correct  their  misapprehensions  of  the  lesson. 
How  easily  the  children  may  misunderstand  a 
Bible  story,  the  mother  and  the  primary  teacher 
have  often  had  demonstrated  by  an  attempt  to 
have  the  child  reproduce  it.  In  the  telling  of 
the  story  by  the  teacher,  and  in  the  "tolling 
back"  by  the  child,  simplicity  and  avoidance  of 
all  elocutionary  effect  should  be  observed      Pri- 


100  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

mary  teachers  with  stage  manners  and  studied 
art  do  much  to  cultivate  the  vanity  and  self- 
consciousness  of  children,  and  to  turn  the  pri- 
mary department  into  a  Sunday  school  "show." 

10.  Drilling  the  Children. — The  secret  of  suc- 
cess with  many  primary  teachers  is  the  constancy 
and  painstaking  of  the  drill.  Over  and  over, 
over  and  over,  the  facts  and  teachings  of  the 
lesson  are  drilled  upon,  separately  and  in  con- 
cert; the  teacher  first  putting  the  truth  in  small 
portions  in  exact  form,  and  then  having  a  child 
here  and  there  repeat  it  singly,  and  afterwards 
the  full  class  or  department  in  concert.  Chil- 
dren take  pleasure  in  a  spirited  drill,  and  only 
by  repeated  drills  do  they  truly  learn.  Some 
lessons  are  harder  to  teach  than  others.  In  such 
cases  give  to  the  easy  lesson  of  the  day  less 
time,  and  after  it  is  taught  go  back  to  the  hard 
lesson  of  a  previous  Sunday,  and  drill  upon 
its  difficulties.  Lesson  after  lesson  of  the  quar- 
ter should  thus  be  linked  together  by  the  meth- 
od of  the  drill. 

11.  Golden  Text  and  Title. — To  have  the  chil- 
dren commit  to  memory  and  to  understand  these 
two  things  of  the  lesson,  is  an  essential  of  pri- 
mary teaching.  They  epitomize  the  lesson,  and 
hold  it  in  condensed  form.  About  the  Golden 
Text  especially  the  lesson  crystallizes.  But  it  is 
better  to  drill  this  into  the  memory  of  the  child 


Teaching  Little  Children.  101 

after  the  lesson  has  been  taught,  and  for  the 
teacher,  as  she  teaches,  to  bring  out  its  mean- 
ings. Hence  the  wise  primary  teacher  begins 
with  the  lesson  story  and  ends  with  the  Golden 
Text,  around  which  the  story  is  made  to  revolve 
again  and  again  in  the  teaching. 

12.  T7ie  Spiritual  Things. — The  primary 
teacher  who  merely  tells  prettily  a  Bible  story, 
and  goes  no  farther  than  the  concrete  things  of 
the  lesson,  on  the  assumption  that  little  chil- 
dren cannot  enter  understandingly  into  spiritual 
truth,  knows  little  of  the  childish  mind  and 
heart.  Children  are  the  special  care  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  who  fails  not,  though  the  teacher  may, 
to  set  before  the  child  the  mysteries  of  the 
kingdom.  The  child's  spiritual  intuitions  are 
often  keener  than  the  adult's.  Be  not  afraid  to 
appeal  to  the  oonscience,  to  deal  strongly  with 
the  spiritual  consciousness  of  the  child,  to  ques- 
tion it  upon  the  things  of  God.  But  avoid 
another  extreme,  and  do  not  wrest  the  lesson 
away  from  its  plain  and  simple  intent,  nor 
thrust  upon  the  children  fanciful  and  far-fetched 
teachings  "about  Jesus."  Every  lesson,  though 
from  the  Bible,  has  not  in  itself  the  image  and 
person  of  Christ. 


XIV.  TEACHING  BIG  BOYS  AND  GIRLS. 

By  "big  boys  and  girls"  are  meant  those  of 
the  junior  department,  whose  ages  range  from 
twelve  to  sixteen  years. 

The  difficulties  attending  the  teaching  of  this 
class  of  scholars  are  partly  real  and  partly  imag- 
inary. One  of  these  is  the  odium  put  upon  them 
by  some  teachers  who  hold  them  as  Ishmaelites. 
"Give  me  any  class  but  one  of  big  boys  or  girls" 
is  not  uncommonly  heard.  Another  difficulty  is 
in  the  transition  stage  through  which  these  boys 
and  girls  are  passing.  They  are  no  longer  chil- 
dren, docile  and  trustful,  and  are  not  old  enough 
to  be  addressed  as  "young  ladies  and  gentle- 
men." They  are  practically  nondescripts,  a  law 
unto  themselves,  socially  and  educationally.  It 
is  the  perilous  period  of  the  "teens,"  fraught 
with  large  possibilities  for  good  or  evil. 

No  period  in  life  demands  greater  care  and  ten- 
derness than  this  one  of  big  boyhood  or  girlhood, 
and  at  no  time  is  character  more  surely  formed. 

I.  As  to  the  Teacher. 
1.  Have  a  care,  then,  what  kind  of  teacher  is 
set  over  big  boys  and  girls,  as  that  teacher  means 
more  for  good  or  bad  than  any  who  come  before 
or  follow  after. 
(102) 


Teaching  Dly  Boys  and  Girls.  103 

2.  Choose  a  teacher  with  heart  power,  especial- 
ly. If  one  who  is  clear-headed  and  warm-hearted 
can  be  gotten,  all  the  better;  but  if  not,  take  one 
who  has  a  big  loving  heart,  who  has  not  forgot- 
ten the  days  of  boyhood  or  girlhood. 

3.  Whether  it  should  be  a  man  or  woman  to 
teach  such  scholars  is  of  small  account.  Usual- 
ly a  man  is  better  for  boys  and  a  woman  for 
girls;  but  rather  than  turn  them  over  to  the  ten- 
der mercies  of  a  rasping  and  unsympathetic 
teacher,  any  one,  without  regard  to  sex  or  age, 
should  be  chosen. 

4.  It  must  be  a  teacher  with  the  mother  instinct. 
Men  often  have  this,  and  women  often  have  it 
not.  It  takes  both  the  firmness  of  the  masculine 
and  gentleness  of  the  feminine  combined  to  make 
the  best  teacher  for  big  boys  and  girls. 

5.  There  is  a  good  reason  in  the  nature  of  things 
why  men,  as  a  rule,  should  teach  the  larger  boys 
and  women  the  larger  girls.  A  man  who  has 
endured  the  trials  of  his  own  boyhood  will  un- 
derstand those  of  his  sex  better  than  a  woman; 
the  same  is  true  as  to  a  woman  teaching  girls. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  principle  will  hold  against 
all  challenge,  either  in  secular  or  religious  edu- 
cation, that  no  teaching  or  training  is  complete 
until  it  has  received  the  impress  of  both  sexes  as 
teachers. 

6.  Whoever  the  teacher,  the  test  of  fitness  is 


104  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

that  be  or  she  shall  have  shown  some  measure  oi 
skill  in  the  management  of  big  boys  and  girls. 
There  are  such  persons  in  every  church,  who,  as 
parents  or  companions  of  big  boys  and  girls,  have 
made  their  mark  upon  them  and  are  recognized 
by  them  as  leaders. 

II.  As  to  the  Teaching. 

1.  The  chief  thing  to  do  with  these  big  boys 
and  girls  in  the  class  is  to  keep  them  busy.  That 
will  depend  upon  the  teacher's  painstaking  in 
planning  the  work  so  as  to  engage  every  moment 
of  time  from  beginning  to  ending  of  the  lesson 
hour.  "Work,  downright  and  constant,  is  the 
solvent  of  mischief. 

2.  Have  them  to  own  and  use  their  Mibles,  and 
allow  nothing  but  the  Bible  in  class  work.  It 
is  the  best  time  for  teaching  its  practical  use,  as 
it  is  the  time  of  all  others  for  inculcating  rev- 
erence for  it. 

3.  In  teaching,  use  mainly  the  method  of  ques- 
tion and  answer.  Do  not  lecture,  or  "talk about" 
the  lesson.  Such  scholars  have  not  mastered  the 
art  of  thinking  consecutively,  and  questions  will 
be  as  scaffolding  to  carry  forward  their  thoughts. 
The  lecture  method  is  out  of  place,  as  their  list- 
lessness  under  it  will  demonstrate  to  the  observ- 
ing teacher.  Let  the  teacher  think  out  his  ques- 
tions in  advance,  and  fit  them  to  particular  schol- 


Teaching  Big  Boys  and  Girls.  105 

ars.  Vary  the  order  by  having  the  class  to  do 
the  questioning.  At  all  times  encourage  ques- 
tions from  the  class,  on  the  one  condition  that 
they  pertain  to  the  lesson. 

4.  Stick  to  the  text  of  the  lesson.  Plan  ques- 
tions to  bring  out  its  meaning,  hold  the  class  to 
the  very  words  of  the  Scriptures.  Draw  out  by 
questions  what  the  text  contains.  Refer  answers 
to  the  text  as  the  test  of  correctness.  To  thus 
train  a  class  of  boys  or  girls  in  the  habit  of  care- 
ful scrutiny  of  the  Bible  text  is  the  beginning  of 
fruitful  study. 

5.  Make  free  use  of  the  marginal  references. 
Most  of  these  throw  light  upon  the  lesson. 
Train  the  scholars  to  find  and  utilize  them  in 
class  work  and  home  study.  Assign  one  or 
more  to  each  scholar;  have  them  read  before  the 
class  and  their  application  explained.  This  has 
an  added  value  in  giving  something  to  every  one 
to  do. 

6.  Aim  especially  at  the  slow  and  dull.  Give 
these  plenty  of  time.  Ask  of  them  the  simplest 
questions.  Hold  back  the  ' '  smart "  scholars,  and 
impress  the  doctrine  of  class  rights  and  mutual 
forbearance. 

7.  The  round  table  method  is  a  good  variation 
from  the  regular  order.  No  set  questions  are 
asked;  each  is  free  to  speak;  one  or  more  are  as- 
signed in  advance  to  lead  off  with  comments  on 


106  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

the  lesson,  or  to  suggest  "points"  which  they 
have  thought  out;  others  follow  briefly  at  will; 
and  the  teacher  sums  up  and  closes  the  lesson. 

8.  The  lyceum  method  may  also  be  used  at 
times.  If  the  lesson  hinges  upon  an  evenly  bal- 
anced question,  the  teacher  may  turn  it  into  the 
form  of  a  set  "discussion,"  with  scholars  of 
known  views  to  lead,  others  taking  sides  at 
pleasure.  Here  and  there  are  lessons  which  may 
allow  such  treatment,  the  one  point  to  guard 
against  being  the  taking  of  sides  for  the  sake  of 
mere  argument. 

9.  If  possible,  secure  some  sort  of  seclusion  in 
class  work;  if  not  in  a  class  room  to  themselves, 
screen  them  from  neighboring  classes,  or  at  least 
seat  them  in  a  remote  corner.  Teachers  of  big 
boys  and  girls  know  their  tendency  to  become 
"neighborly"  with  other  classes. 

III.  As  to  Management. 

1.  Never  mind  the  animal  spirits  of  big  boys 
and  girls.  Do  not  become  impatient  over  it. 
Nature  made  them  so,  and  they  are  of  little  ac- 
count without  it.  When  the  boiler  is  too  full  of 
steam,  provide  an  escape  valve. 

2.  Allow  much  for  the  transition  period.  Ad- 
olescence is  not  an  evil  in  itself.  A  study  of  the 
physical  conditions  attendant  upon  big  boyhood 
and  girlhood  is  worth  much  to  teachers. 


Teaching  Big  Boys  and  Girls.  107 

3.  Put  proper  incentives  before  them:  the  "roll 
of  honor,"  the  "class  standing,"  the  day  of  hon- 
or and  recognition  before  the  school. 

4.  Capture  the  class  leaders.  Find  them  out 
by  watching  the  class,  and  win  them  as  your 
helpers,  and  place  them  on  your  personal  staff. 

5.  Have  regard  for  the  gregarious  instinct.  Do 
not  try  to  drive  the  class  collectively,  but  take 
your  appeal  to  each  boy  or  girl  individually. 
You  will  succeed  in  this  way  where  you  have 
failed  in  trying  to  move  the  class  as  a  body. 

6.  Do  not  put  big  boys  and  girls  in  the  same 
class.     Sentiment  is  not  always  sense. 

7.  Be  thoroughly  impartial.  Shun  favorit- 
ism. Treat  rich  and  poor,  dull  and  bright,  alike. 
Allow  no  challenge  to  your  absolute  fairness  to 
to  all. 

8.  Make  comrades  of  your  scholars  on  the 
street,  in  the  home,  by  fine  courtesies  reserved 
specially  for  them.  Convince  them  that  they  are 
always  and  everywhere  first  in  your  thought. 

9.  Get  good  readable  books  for  the  class,  and 
start  a  class  library.  Class  ownership  develops 
the  class  spirit,  and  is  helpful. 

10.  Organize  the  class  with  class  officers — a 
president,  secretary,  etc.  Let  them  elect  their 
officers,  frame  by-laws  and  rules  of  order,  and 
learn  the  lesson  of  self-government. 

11.  Appoint  committees— lookout,  sick,  visita- 


108  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

tion,  social,  etc.      Find  work  for  these  commit- 
tees. 

12.  Have  class  observance  of  days — Christmas, 
Fourth  of  July,  Thanksgiving,  anniversaries, 
etc. 

13.  If  practicable,  spend  a  few  days  every 
summer  camping  out  as  a  class.     It  will  pay. 

14.  Cultivate  the  parents.  It  helps  a  scholar 
to  see  that  his  teacher  is  on  close  terms  with  his 
father  and  mother. 

15.  Do  not  be  afraid  to  talk  religion,  but  deal 
privately  with  each  as  opportunity  offers.  If 
religious  yourself,  you  cannot  help  talking  it  to 
those  you  love.  Your  scholars  will  expect  it  of 
you,  and  will  wonder  why  you  do  not  open  your 
heart  to  them  upon  the  one  thing  that  most  con- 
cerns them. 


XV.    TEACHING  YOUNG  MEN  AND  WOMEN. 

I.  The  Problem  of  Sex. 

Whether  there  should  be  mixed  or  separate 
classes  of  young  men  and  women  will  depend 
upon  local  conditions.  The  pleas  for  the  former 
are:  1.  The  stimulus  to  study  that  comes  from 
the  mixing  of  the  sexes,  in  arousing  a  spirit  of 
desire  to  appear  well.  2.  The  finer  religious 
and  moral  tone  of  young  women  as  a  help  to 
young  men. 

Per  contra,  those  who  favor  separate  classes 
maintain:  1.  That  young  men  are  constrained 
rather  than  helped  in  study  by  the  presence  in 
the  class  of  young  women,  who  have  more  time 
for  study,  and  therefore  lead  in  the  work  of  the 
lesson  hour.  2.  That  mixed  classes  minister  to 
the  social  rather  than  the  religious  and  intellec- 
tual needs  of  members. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  classes  of  young  peo- 
ple in  our  American  Sunday  schools,  now  widely 
known  as  having  solved  the  problem  of  getting 
young  men  and  women  into  the  Sunday  school, 
are  restricted  to  one  sex  only. 

II.  The  Problem  of  a  Department. 

Whether  mixed  or  separate  as  to  sex,  it  is  cer- 

(109) 


110  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

tain  that  the  problem  of  getting  young  men  and 
women  into  Sunday  school  is  retarded  by  the 
promiscuous  way  in  which  they  are  graded. 
Young  people  who  have  attained  their  majority 
are  classed  with  big  boys  and  girls,  or  assigned 
to  silence  and  nonentity  in  classes  of  elderly  peo- 
ple. Age,  tastes,  associations,  habits  of  thought 
and  life  are  ignored.  The  remedy  lies  along 
the  following  lines: 

1 .  Use  the  young  men  and  women  already  in 
church  and  school  to  recruit  other  young  men 
and  women. 

2.  Plan  the  work  of  recruiting,  assign  de- 
tails to  those  who  will  take  part,  and  persist  in 
setting  before  the  young  people  of  the  commu- 
nity the  need  and  profit  of  Sunday  school  mem- 
bership. 

3.  Take  special  note  of  those  who  come. 
Honor  them  in  every  way  possible.  Smooth 
their  way,  and  strengthen  the  bonds  of  affilia- 
tion. 

4.  Unite  all  classes  of  young  people,  whether 
mixed  or  separate,  into  a  distinct  department. 
Seat  the  classes  together,  in  one  part  of  the  room, 
if  there  are  not  separate  class  rooms.  If  pro- 
vided with  class  rooms,  place  the  classes  in  ad- 
joining rooms. 

5.  Give  the  department  its  own  name.  The 
bost  name  is  one  suggested  twenty  years  ago* 


Teaching  Young  Men  and  Women.        Ill 

the  "  Young  People's  Assembly,"  or  simply  the 
"Assembly."  It  is  better  than  "  Senior  Depart- 
ment," which  properly  applies  to  the  older  mem- 
bers. 

6.  Allow  promotion  to  this  department  for  all 
young  people  over  sixteen  years  of  age.  Make 
promotion  to  the  "Assembly  "  one  of  the  special 
features  of  the  year.  Set  a  day  for  it,  and  ob- 
serve the  occasion  appropriately. 

7.  Try  the  department  plan,  whether  your 
school  is  large  or  small,  in  city  or  country.  Its 
success  does  not  depend  upon  the  number  of 
classes  composing  it.  It  follows  the  natural 
principle  of  putting  together  those  who  are  proper 
yokefellows. 

III.   The  Problem  of  a  Class  Spirit. 

A  class  spirit  is  one  of  the  best  helps  toward 
a  solution  of  the  general  problem.  It  is  worthy 
of  note  that  the  "spirit"  of  the  famous  classes 
above  mentioned  is  the  main  cause  of  their  suc- 
cess. Rightly  directed,  the  class  spirit  will  give 
stimulus  beyond  any  other  influence.  There  are 
ways  of  developing  this  spirit: 

1.  Have  a  class  organization.  Frame  a  con- 
stitution and  by-laws,  and  have  the  class  adopt 
it,  or  let  the  class  frame  it. 

2.  Have  a  corps  of  class  officers — a  president, 
a   vice  president,    a    secretary,    a   treasurer,   an 

8 


112  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

usher  (if  a  large  class),  a  chaplain,  an  executive 
committee. 

3.  Appoint  standing  committees;  a  "lookout" 
committee,  to  work  for  additions  to  the  class; 
a  "visiting"  committee,  to  call  upon  members 
when  there  is  need;  an  "absentee"  committee, 
to  keep  an  eye  on  any  who  are  derelict  in  at- 
tendance; a  "social"  committee,  to  plan  social 
functions;  a  "finance"  committee,  to  foster 
contribution  and  distribution  of  class  money;  a 
"spiritual"  committee,  to  work  personally  for 
the  saving  of  unsaved  members.  A  fine  class 
spirit  is  summed  up  in  this  one  admonition: 
give  every  one  something  to  do  for  his  class, 
and  take  care  that  it  is  done  faithfully. 

IV.  The  Problem  of  Teaching. 

This  is  the  main  problem.  It  is  not  easy  to 
teach  young  men  and  women  in  a  way  that  will 
interest  and  hold  them  to  the  class.  Blunders 
are  made  in  the  choice  of  a  teacher;  others  in 
the  method  of  teaching. 

As  to  the  Teacher. — 1.  In  choosing  a  teacher 
for  young  men  or  women,  the  first  qualification 
should  be  that  of  piety.  To  be  a  clean,  strong 
Christian,  with  unsullied  reputation,  with  ex- 
perience in  the  religious  life — these  are  indis- 
pensable. 

2.   Second  in  importance   is  a  well-grounded 


Teaching  Young  Men  and  Women.        113 

knowledge  of  the  Bible.  Not  technical  or  scho- 
lastic knowledge  is  meant,  but  plain,  home- 
grown knowledge  that  comes  of  searching  the 
Scriptures.  Scholastic  knowledge  too  often 
sticks  to  the  dry  bones  of  theological  systems. 

3.  Next  in  order  is  a  sincere  sympathy  with 
young  men  and  women.  No  teacher  of  per- 
functory spirit  should  ever  be  called  to  teach 
young  people. 

As  a  rule,  if  the  classes  are  separate  as  to 
sex,  a  man  is  better  for  young  men  as  teacher, 
and  a  woman  for  young  women.  If  mixed  class- 
es, some  of  the  objections  to  mixing,  as  noted 
above,  may  be  met  by  putting  a  man  to  teach. 
Young  men  will  then  take  readier  part,  while 
young  women  will  not  suffer  loss. 

1.  As  to  Jlethods. — 1.  Do  not  question  much, 
at  least  to  the  extent  of  embarrassing  slower 
members. 

2.  Allow  free  discussion  along  the  lesson's 
lines,  within  the  bounds  of  time.  Young  people 
have  opinions,  and  desire  to  express  them. 

3.  Do  not  assume  to  be  an  encyclopedia  of 
Bible  learning.  Frankly  admit  ignorance,  and 
thus  hold  respect.  Ask  for  time  in  which  to 
meet  demands,  and  lay  yourself  out  to  find  what 
is  wanted. 

4.  Use  the  topical  and  lecture  methods.  As- 
sign topics  or  subjects  from  the  lesson  in  ad- 


114  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

vance,  giving  every  member  in  turn  something 
to  do  at  home.  Hear  Avhat  they  have  to  say 
upon  the  assigned  subjects,  and  spend  the  re- 
mainder of  the  hour  in  presenting  the  truths  of 
the  lesson. 

5.  Take  pains  to  base  all  teachings  upon  the 
Bible,  and  do  not  set  up  your  own  beliefs  as 
a  standard  of  truth.  Sticking  close  to  the  in- 
spired text,  drawing  your  evidences  from  it, 
will  beget  a  habit  of  Bible-searching  in  young 
people,  and  do  much  to  dispel  the  critical  mood 
that  often  besets  them. 

6.  Be  patient  especially  with  the  "bad  young 
man."  If  anything  needs  to  be  said  in  admoni- 
tion, let  it  be  done  in  privacy  and  tenderness. 
Remember  that  young  men  often  appear  worse 
than  they  really  are.  It  is  "put  on,"  and  is 
more  for  effect  than  an  evidence  of  real  bad- 
ness. 

7.  Cultivate  an  unfailing  optimism  in  dealing 
with  young  people.  They  have  come  to  an  age 
when  you  cannot  drive  or  easily  lead  them. 
They  are  quick  to  detect  if  the  teacher  has  lost 
confidence  in  them;  but  as  long  as  they  are  sure 
you  trust  them  and  have  faith  in  saving  them, 
you  cannot  fail  as  their  teacher. 


XVI.  TEACHING  ADULT  SCHOLARS. 

Many  Sunday  schools  are  giving  emphasis  to 
the  attendance  of  the  older  people.  Within  a 
few  years,  a  number  of  "  adult  departments'* 
have  demonstrated  the  practicability  of  securing 
adult  attendance  and  interest  in  Bible  study. 
Two  reasons  should  be  urged  for  such  depart- 
ments: 

1.  The  average  man  or  woman  needs  regular 
and  systematic  Bible  study,  as  a  "means  of 
grace."  The  tendency  of  a  busy  life  is  to  neg- 
lect such  study  in  the  home  and  on  week  days, 
which  makes  it  the  more  imperative  that  it  be 
done  on  the  Sabbath,  when  secular  work  does 
not  obtrude. 

2.  Attendance  of  the  adults  upon  the  Sunday 
school  is  needed  for  the  sake  of  example.  The 
young  men  and  women  of  the  church  and  com- 
munity will  not  easily  be  led  to  attend  the  Sun- 
day school  until  it  has  the  dignity  and  prestige 
an  adult  department  will  give  to  it.  The  "young 
man"  problem,  so  often  under  discussion,  will 
be  solved  by  the  presence  in  the  school  of  the  fa- 
thers and  mothers. 

I.  The  Adult  Department. 
1.  Give  the  department  its  own  place.     Scat- 

(115) 


116  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

teringits  classes  throughout  a  building,  and  call- 
ing it  a  "department,"  will  not  make  it  one. 
The  department  feeling  must  be  culivated,  which 
will  be  done  by  massing  it,  giving  it  place  and 
title  of  honor  distinctively,  and  making  much  of 
it.  A  stimulus  will  thus  be  given  to  scholars  of 
the  under  grades  to  work  up  by  promotion 
into  it. 

2.  On  the  other  hand,  do  not  allow  the  adult 
department  to  overshadow  the  school.  This  is 
done  by  setting  the  standards  of  study,  review, 
general  exercises,  and  platform  talks  above  the 
range  of  children  and  youth.  Aim  at  all  class- 
es and  ages  in  the  general  work  of  the  school. 

3.  Keep  extremes  apart.  Do  not  put  into  the 
same  class  of  the  adult  department  extremes  in 
age,  tastes,  and  habits.  Put  married  people 
and  old  people  in  classes  to  themselves.  Let 
each  be  with  his  fellows.  Comradeship  should 
rule  in  classifying.  Each  should  be  where  he 
will  feel  most  at  ease,  and  be  free  to  speak 
without  fear  of  disclosing  ignorance. 

4.  Do  not  draw  upon  the  adult  department 
for  substitute  teachers.  Make  provision  for 
such  supply  in  the  way  of  a  teacher's  training 
class.  A  superintendent  should  not  urge  adult 
scholars  to  take  charge  of  class  work  for  which 
they  are  not  prepared,  and  to  avoid  which  they 
eease  to  attend. 


Teaching  Adult  Scholars.  117 

5.  Look  to  the  adult  department  for  a  good  ex- 
ample in  all  things,  in  attending  promptly  and 
regularly,  in  taking  hearty  part  in  the  general 
exercises,  in  good  order,  in  genuine  loyalty  to 
the  school.  To  allow  a  double  standard  in  the 
school,  one  for  children  and  youth,  another  for 
older  scholars,  seriously  impairs  good  govern- 
ment. The  older  the  scholars,  the  more  readily 
they  should  respond  to  the  rule  of  the  chief. 

II.  Teaching  Adults. 

1.  Give  the  classes  the  best  teachers  you  can 
command.  One  who  has  tact,  firmness,  and  pa- 
tience will  usually  succeed  with  a  class  of 
adults.  Older  scholars  need  leadership  rather 
than  teaching.  They  have  come  to  think  for 
themselves,  and  to  hold  convictions  upon  Bible 
matters.  The  leader  who  simply  "draws  them 
out,"  and  guides  them  through  the  lesson,  will 
prove  acceptable. 

2.  Use  the  colloquial  method.  Adult  schol- 
ars are  often  driven  away  for  fear  of  being 
cross-examined  upon  the  day's  lesson.  As  a 
rule,  such  scholars  do  a  minimum  of  home  study, 
and  rely  upon  their  general  knowledge  of  the 
Bible,  which  makes  them  the  more  sensitive  to 
direct  questioning. 

3.  Use  Bibles  only  in  the  adult  classes,  how- 
ever much  this  is  abated  in  other  departments. 


118  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

Adult  classes  are  controversial,  and  it  is  well  to 
hold  them  to  the  Bible  as  an  end  of  contro- 
versy. 

4.  Do  not  allow  a  monopoly  by  the  two  or 
three  who  happen  to  be  the  most  knowing.  Give 
every  member  of  the  class  opportunity  to  speak 
his  mind  upon  the  lesson.  But  leave  each  free 
to  speak  or  to  be  silent  without  sense  of  failure. 

5.  Do  not  become  controversial  as  the  teach- 
er. If  a  wrong  opinion  prevails,  set  over 
against  it  your  own  in  few  words,  and  pass  to 
the  next  point.  Especially  keep  out  "isms." 
Take  the  lesson  in  hand,  press  it  upon  the  class, 
stick  to  the  Bible,  and  put  aside  every  attempt 
to  exploit  "cranky"  opinions. 

III.  Two  Examples. 

Two  notable  examples  among  many  take 
prominence  in  illustrating  the  possibilities  of 
an  adult  department.  One  is  in  the  North,  the 
other  in  the  South. 

The  "O'Hanlon  Bible  Class,"  of  Ocean  Grove, 
N.  J.,  is  an  evidence  of  how  people  find  a 
charm  in  free  and  unconventional  study  of  the 
Bible.  This  class  is  the  "adult  department"  of 
a  school  which  meets  at  3  p.m.  on  the  Sabbath, 
during  the  seashore  season  from  May  to  Octo- 
ber. Dr.  O'Hanlon,  President  of  the  Penning- 
ton Academy,  is  a  genial,  well-roundec^  con- 


Teaching  Adult  Scholars.  119 

servative  leader.  Three  thousand  persons  are 
often  to  be  found  in  his  class.  For  an  hour 
they  are  held  closely  to  study  of  the  freest 
colloquial  kind.  The  International  lessons  are 
used.  A  part  of  the  hour,  at  opening,  is  given 
to  general  questions  from  the  class,  in  writing 
or  orally,  upon  matters  of  Bible  interest.  The 
range  of  these  questions  is  wide,  and  often  ex- 
tends to  secular  questions  growing  out  of  Bible 
teachings.  The  leader  answers  the  questions, 
or  calls  for  volunteer  answers,  correcting  and 
directing  at  his  pleasure.  Then  follows  his 
statement  of  the  greater  teachings  of  the  regu- 
lar lesson  of  the  day,  to  which  additions  are 
made  by  volunteers.  The  study  is  free,  hearty, 
spirited,  but  always  held  firmly  in  bounds. 
4 'Cranks"  are  not  tolerated. 

The  other  adult  department  is  that  of  Trinity 
Methodist  Sunday  School,  Atlanta,  Ga.  With- 
am's  "Busy  People's  Class,"  as  recently  ob- 
served, is  a  great  adult  class,  conducted  after  a 
unique  way.  The  finest  preparation  is  made  by 
the  leader  upon  the  day's  lesson;  an  appointed 
"reader,"  standing  before  the  class,  reads  verse 
by  verse;  the  text  is  first  made  plain,  then  illus- 
trated and  enforced  by  Mr.  Witham  with  rare 
skill.  The  lecture  method  obtains.  No  direct 
questioning  is  done  by  the  leader.  As  with  the 
O'Hanlon  class.  Questions  from  members  are  en- 


120  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

couraged  and  answered.  Volunteer  "points" 
are  called  for,  and  visitors  of  distinction  are  oc- 
casionally used  to  assist  the  leader.  The  utmost 
freedom  from  embarrassment  and  conventional- 
ity is  the  rule. 


XVII.  THE  TEACHER'S  TRAINING  WORK. 

Training  one's  scholars  is  more  difficult  than 
teaching  them.  It  is  putting  into  practice  the 
lessons  taught.  The  difference  is  that  between 
planting  the  seed  and  caring  for  the  plant  until 
it  comes  to  maturity.  A  Bible  doctrine  may  be 
taught  in  a  day,  but  working  it  out  in  the  life  is 
a  slow  and  difficult  labor  of  years.  Teaching 
gives  knowledge;  training  makes  character.  The 
teacher's  best  work  is  along  the  lines  of  train- 
ing. The  day  school  teacher's  objective  is  good 
citizenship;  the  Sunday  school  teacher's  is  Chris- 
tian character.  The  latter  goes  beyond  the  for- 
mer in  training  for  the  home,  the  church,  and 
the  state,  for  both  secular  and  religious  uses, 
for  the  life  that  is  and  the  life  to  come.  It  is  a 
noble  and  far-reaching  work,  an  opportunity  and 
responsibility  unsurpassed.  It  was  said  of  Dr. 
Thomas  Arnold,  of  Rugby,  that  he  "left  his 
mark  upon  every  Rugby  boy."  His  methods, 
as  disclosed  in  "Tom  Brown's  School  Days  at 
Rugby,"  show  how  thoroughly  he  individualized 
his  great  school  and  trained  each  boy  for  what- 
ever was  best  in  him.  So  the  wise  Sunday  school 
teacher  must  study  the  temper  and  disposition  of 
his  scholars,  and  find  along  what  lines  of  train- 

(121) 


122  T he  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

ing  his  work  should  proceed.     Here  are  some  of 
the  things  to  be  included  in  his  training  work: 

1.  Christian  Habits. — Training  forms,  rather 
than  reforms.  Forming  safe  habits  is  the  prac- 
tical work  of  the  Sunday  school.  There  is  the 
habit  of  prayer,  both  private  and  public;  of  pure 
speech  and  living;  of  respect  for  the  aged  and 
infirm;  of  courtesy  to  inferiors;  of  kindness  to 
brutes.  There  are  habits  of  good  and  whole- 
some reading,  of  honor  to  parents,  of  Sabbath- 
keeping,  of  helpfulness  and  almsgiving.  A 
habit,  good  or  bad,  is  the  resultant  of  an  act  in- 
definitely repeated  until  it  becomes  constant 
and  involuntary.  A  Christian  habit  is  one  pat- 
terned after  the  example  or  commandments  of 
Christ. 

2.  Christian  Service. — The  present  has  been 
fittingly  called  the  "era  of  young  people." 
Young  people's  societies  have  multiplied,  and 
the  church  is  calling  them  into  all  forms  of 
service.  The  Sunday  school  is  a  better  training 
place  for  Christian  service  than  the  Endeavor  or 
League  society,  for  the  reason  that  it  begins  its 
training  earlier,  and  employs  the  methods  of  the 
school.  It  was  the  neglect,  indeed,  by  the  Sun- 
day school  of  this  training  function  that  gave 
rise  to  the  young  people's  societies.  It  is  by 
this  training  work  of  the  school  that  the  church 
must  grow  a  crop  of  serviceable  young  Chris- 


lite  Teacher's  Training  Work.  123 

tians.  One  small  school  by  such  training  with- 
in a  few  years  has  supplied  seven  missionaries 
and  preachers.  Another  school  provides  the 
greater  part  of  the  prayer  meeting  congregation, 
as  a  result  of  training  its  membership  to  attend 
en  masse.  Yet  another  Sunday  school  utilizes  a 
score  or  more  of  its  boys  and  girls  as  home  de- 
partment messengers.  House- to- house  visita- 
tion, caring  for  the  sick,  finding  out  the  desti- 
tute, looking  up  absent  ones,  assisting  pastor  and 
superintendent  in  clerical  and  other  ways,  are 
some  of  the  forms  of  service  in  which  scholars 
may  be  trained. 

3.  Church  Attendayice. — The  school's  first  duty 
in  the  matter  of  attendance  is  to  the  church 
rather  than  to  itself.  The  school  is  for  the 
church,  not  the  church  for  the  school.  The 
preaching  service,  in  the  light  of  Scripture  or 
reason,  has  higher  claim  upon  childhood  and 
youth  than  the  school.  Parent,  pastor,  and 
teacher  should  unite  in  securing  the  presence 
of  the  entire  school  at  the  Sabbath  morning 
preaching  service.  The  teacher  should  set  a 
good  example  of  attendance,  and  urge  it  upon 
his  class.  He  should  keep  a  record  of  the 
church  attendance  of  his  scholars,  and  talk 
with  them  about  the  church,  its  pastor,  the  du- 
ty and  privilege  of  public  worship.  He  should 
counsel  with  the  pastor  as  to  such  attendance, 


124  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

and  seek  to  bring  the  pastor  and  the  scholars 
closer  together. 

4.  Church  Loyalty. — There  is  a  kind  of  church 
loyalty  whose  roots  are  ignorance  and  bigotry. 
True  loyalty  is  intelligent  and  catholic;  devoted 
to  one's  own  church,  because  it  knows  and  be- 
lieves thoroughly  its  doctrine,  yet  honoring  all 
other  churches  for  the  good  it  sees  in  them. 
Such  loyalty  manifests  itself  by  firm  adherence 
to  the  church's  peculiar  doctrines,  faithfulness 
to  one's  pastor,  obedience  to  church  rules,  gen- 
erous support  of  its  ministries,  ready  and  hearty 
service  in  its  behalf.  The  Sunday  school  teach- 
er is  doing  a  great  work  when  he  thus  trains  his 
scholars. 

5.  Systematic  Giving. — The  liberal  church  is 
the  product  of  home  and  Sunday  school  training. 
The  generous  givers  of  the  church  are  those  who 
have  been  taught  in  childhood  to  give  from  prin- 
ciple and  with  system.  Scriptural  giving  is 
never  spasmodic  or  emotional,  but  constant  and 
by  rule.  Sunday  school  scholars  can  easily  be 
trained  to  give  cheerfully  and  systematically. 
The  teacher  should  have  a  plan  or  system  for 
his  class,  not  a  competitive  one  with  honors  for 
the  largest  giver,  which  is  unscriptural,  but  a 
system  based  upon  regular  and  intelligent  giv- 
ing, as  a  duty  to  God  and  the  church.  Priz* 
banners,  class  rivalries,  any  motive  of  mere  com 


The  Teacher }s  Training  Work.  125 

petition,  should  not  be  allowed.  The  scholar 
should  be  trained  to  give  as  an  obligation  of 
stewardship,  an  act  of  worship.  His  acts  of 
giving,  rather  than  the  amounts  he  gives,  should 
be  recorded  by  his  teacher  and  included  in  the 
reports  of  the  school. 

6.  Helpful  Reading. — Good  books  and  papers 
are  vital  to  good  character  in  the  young.  A 
well- chosen  and  well -managed  library  is  the 
teacher's  best  auxiliary.  What  his  scholars  read 
between  Sabbaths  most  seriously  affects  the 
teacher's  work.  A  clean  helpful  book  in  the 
hands  of  the  scholar  reenforces  the  teacher  at 
every  point.  Recent  experiments  in  secular  and 
religious  education  have  shown  conclusively  that 
the  beginnings  of  youthful  viciousness  are  large- 
ly and  directly  traceable  to  bad  books.  The 
reading  habit  grows  quickly  upon  our  boys  and 
girls,  and  can  be  turned  to  good  account.  The 
easy  tendency  is  toward  books  of  fiction,  which 
usually  are  hurtful  to  mind  and  heart.  With 
hundreds  of  good,  strong  books,  fitted  especially 
to  the  temper  and  tastes  of  boys  and  girls,  books 
of  history,  biography,  travel,  popular  science, 
etc.,  there  is  abundant  material  at  hand  with 
which  to  train  one's  scholars  in  ways  of  helpful 
reading.  Nor  is  the  excuse  well  founded  that 
charges  upon  children  and  youth  an  aversion  to 
such  books. 


126  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

7.  Reverence. — Our  American  youth  particu- 
larly need  training  in  reverence.  Makers  of  our 
own  laws  and  rulers,  freer  than  any  people  and 
boastful  of  our  freedom,  we  are  losing  much  of 
the  reverent  spirit  of  the  fathers  of  the  republic. 
To  the  credit  of  our  schools,  our  boys  and  girls 
hold  some  things  in  reverence.  There  is  rever- 
ence for  the  Bible,  for  great  men,  for  the  flag. 
There  is  wanting  a  reverence  for  the  Sabbath, 
the  house  of  God,  for  the  home,  for  law  and  or- 
der, for  personal  faith  and  honor.  Our  youth 
need  the  Sunday  school  teacher's  care  in  these  re- 
spects. Their  liberty,  unrestrained  by  parental 
authority  or  moral  sentiment,  is  converted  into 
license.  Nothing  can  compensate  for  the  lack 
of  a  reverent  spirit  in  youth.  To  train  a  boy  to 
deport  himself  as  a  gentleman  in  all  places,  es- 
pecially in  the  church;  to  respect  the  law  and  its 
officers,  great  and  small;  to  cherish  a  pride  in 
keeping  faith  and  honor  in  all  things — is  better 
than  the  mere  teaching  of  lessons.  The  Sunday 
school  has  the  advantage  over  the  day  school  in 
this  training.  True  reverence  is  founded  in  fear 
of  God,  and  is  directed  by  a  Christian  conscience. 
Reverence  is  but  another  name  for  religion,  and 
the  Sunday  school  teacher,  by  virtue  of  his  office, 
is  a  religious  trainer. 


XVIII.  THE  TEACHER'S  WEEK  DAY  WORK. 

Over  against  the  one  hour  of  the  Sunday  school 
session,  in  helpfulness  or  hindrance,  is  set  the 
entire  week.  Considering  the  forces  that  array 
themselves  against  the  teacher's  work — the  neg- 
lectful Christian  parent,  the  godless  home  with 
its  positively  evil  training,  the  temptations  that 
early  beset  our  boys  and  girls,  the  vices  of  the 
street  open  before  them,  the  evil  companions 
who  ensnare  them,  the  bad  books  and  papers 
in  easy  reach — it  is  a  wonder  that  the  Sunday 
school,  with  its  small  fraction  of  time,  is  doing 
so  much  genuine  and  permanent  good.  But  for 
the  fact  that  its  ministries  are  of  heaven  rather 
than  of  earth,  and  that  they  bind  together  the 
sacred  influences  of  the  Lord's  day  and  Book 
and  house,  the  teacher  might  well  lose  heart  in 
his  work.  If,  added  to  these  Sabbath  influences, 
there  can  be  found  time  by  the  teacher  for  a 
week  day  work  that  will  help  to  counteract  the 
evil  and  reenforce  the  good,  it  will  often  turn 
defeat  into  victory.  Much  time  or  effort  is  not 
demanded.  Sunday  school  teachers  are  busy 
people,  and  cannot  always  measure  up  to  the 
standards  set  for  them.  But  with  the  busiest 
teacher  there  should  be  time  for  a  few  things 
9  (127) 


128  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

that  will  help  his  scholars  to  fight  the  hard  bat- 
tie  of  temptation  that  comes  from  their  week 
day  living. 

Some  of  the  things  the  teacher  can  include  in 
this  work  of  the  week  are  suggested: 

1.  He  can  study  the  home  conditions  of  his 
scholars,  and  therein  find  the  key  to  their  better 
management  in  the  class. 

2.  He  can  arrest  absenteeism  before  it  becomes 
chronic  and  incurable. 

3.  He  can  assist  and  encourage  the  home  study 
of  the  scholars,  and  thus  find  the  key  to  their 
teaching  in  the  class. 

4.  He  can  take  counsel  with  the  parents,  and 
secure  cooperation  with  his  plans. 

5.  He  can  strengthen  the  bonds  of  personal 
friendship  between  his  scholars  and  himself, 
and  thereby  gain  their  affection  and  confidence. 

I.  Studying  the  Scholar. 

The  teacher,  at  best,  can  gain  only  a  general 
knowledge  of  his  scholars  from  contact  with 
them  in  class.  The  real  personality  of  a  schol- 
ar rarely  discloses  itself  when  massed  with 
other  scholars.  The  boy  collective  is  not  the 
boy  individual.  A  full  knowledge  of  the  schol- 
ar must  be  sought  from  the  mother,  the  day 
school  teacher,  his  "chums."  The  company  he 
keeps  wDr  be  the  clew  to  his  habits.     The  books 


The  Teacher's  Week  Day  Work.  129 

and  papers  he  reads  will  disclose  his  bent  of 
mind.  His  day  school  teacher  knows  much  as 
to  his  social  and  moral  disposition,  his  strong 
and  weak  points  of  character.  He  can  give 
valuable  hints  as  to  his  management.  His 
mother  knows  him  best  of  all  in  the  light  of  the 
home,  which  is  his  severest  test.  Though  she  is 
partisan  by  nature,  she  is  often  his  truest  critic. 
If  the  Sunday  school  teacher  can  take  time  to 
study  the  scholar  under  these  varying  condi- 
tions, the  knowledge  he  will  acquire  will  be  in- 
valuable in  his  managing  and  teaching. 

II.  Arresting  Absenteeism. 

The  church,  especially  the  Sunday  school, 
loses  much  of  its  strength  by  way  of  leakage 
and  drift.  Absenteeism  at  first  is  fitful,  but,  if 
neglected,  soon  becomes  chronic,  and  then  per- 
manent. Its  best  preventive  is  the  teacher's 
week  day  visitation.  Other  devices  used  in 
Sunday  school — such  as  class  records,  rewards, 
rolls  of  honor — are  helpful,  but  do  not  compare 
in  value  with  personal  visitation.  Sometimes  a 
message  or  note  through  the  mail  will  suffice, 
but  the  adage  applies  here:  "If  you  would 
have  something  done  badly,  send  another;  if 
well,  go  yourself."  A  bad  habit  forms  slowly, 
and  its  power  is  easily  broken  at  first.  One 
visit  of  the  teacher  may  arrest  it,  as  personal 


130  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

contact  and  importunity  are  hard  to  resist. 
Find  out  the  reason  for  absence.  It  may  be  in 
the  scholar;  it  may  be  in  the  teacher  himself.  In 
either  case  it  is  worth  finding  out.  Visitation 
by  the  teachd,  or  by  some  one  from  class  or 
school,  should  tread  close  upon  the  heels  of 
every  absence.  One  of  the  great  Sunday  schools 
of  our  country  started  years  ago  with  less  than 
two  hundred  scholars;  it  now  enrolls  nearly  one 
thousand.  Its  large  growth  is  chiefly  due  to 
two  methods:  it  adds  new  members  by  house-to- 
house  visitation,  and  holds  its  old  members  by 
the  insistent  visits  of  its  teachers.  Each  Sab- 
bath's absentees  are  reported  by  the  teacher  to 
the  superintendent,  and  the  teacher  pledges 
himself,  if  possible,  to  visit  the  absent  ones  dur- 
ing the  coming  week. 

II.  Helping  Home  Study. 

Few  scholars  have  home  help  in  lesson  study. 
The  Christian  home  neglects  to  help;  the  non- 
cliristian  home  cares  little  about  it.  The  schol- 
ar is  urged  in  the  class  to  "study  at  home," 
tries  to  do  it,  does  not  know  clearly  what  is 
meant  by  it,  or  what  the  teacher's  standard  of 
"study"  may  be,  and,  after  a  few  discouraging 
efforts,  ceases  to  try.  Here  is  the  teacher's  op- 
portunity. A  few  minutes  of  his  week  day  time 
spent  by  the  scholar's  side  in  his  home,  as  friend 


The  Teacher's  Week  Day  Work.  131 

with  friend,  showing  him  how  to  study  his  les- 
sons, how  to  use  the  lesson  leaf  with  his  Bible, 
and  to  make  the  most  of  both,  will  give  the  schol- 
ar the  needed  clew,  and  possibly  form  within 
him  the  beginning  of  a  habit  of  home  study. 
The  trouble  with  most  boys  and  girls  is  not  so 
much  an  indisposition  to  study  the  Bible  lesson 
as  it  is  in  not  knowing  how  and  to  what 
extent  it  should  be  studied.  The  requirement 
of  the  day  school  for  home  study  is  easily  sub- 
mitted to,  but  the  day  school  teacher  wisely 
sets  a  definite  task,  and  trains  in  methods  of 
study.  One  by  one,  by  the  expenditure  of  a  lit- 
tle effort,  the  scholars  of  a  Sunday  school  class 
may  thus  be  reached  and  started  upon  a  better 
way.  It  is  the  personal  visit  and  help  of  the 
teacher  that  counts,  and  such  visitation  is  worth 
all  the  copyrighted  study  schemes  on  the  market. 

IV.  Winning  the  Parents. 

This  is  the  "ounce  of  prevention"  that  is  worth 
a  "pound  of  cure."  In  secular  education  the 
rod,  once  so  vigorously  applied  as  a  panacea  for 
all  ills,  lies  dust-covered  on  the  shelf,  and  the 
secular  teacher  has  found  a  surer  remedy  in 
parental  cooperation.  The  Sunday  school  teach- 
er may  learn  much  from  the  example  of  the  sec- 
ular teacher.  His  friendly  visits  to  parents, 
his  frank  talks  with  them  over  the  doings  or 


132  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

misdoings  of  his  scholars,  his  appeal  for  co- 
operation in  managing  and  teaching  them,  will 
be  his  most  profitable  week  day  work.  It  an- 
ticipates and  forestalls  trouble;  it  wins  the  par- 
ents in  advance  of  it;  it  harmonizes  the  plans 
and  purposes  of  the  school  and  of  the  home. 
The  Sunday  school  needs  the  help  of  the  home 
even  more  than  the  day  school.  If  the  scholar 
is  a  chronic  absentee,  if  he  is  a  disturber  in  the 
class,  if  he  neglects  the  study  of  the  lessons,  the 
corrective  is  a  prompt  visit  to  the  home,  and  a 
kind  word  with  the  father  and  mother.  The 
visit  must  not  be  for  the  purpose  of  rehearsing 
the  grievances  of  the  teacher  or  the  faults  of 
the  scholar.  Touch  lightly,  if  at  all,  on  these; 
but  ask  help  for  the  future.  Lay  your  plans  for 
the  good  of  the  child  frankly  before  the  parents; 
show  them  that  you  seek  his  welfare  only;  take 
counsel  with  them  heartily  over  the  work  you 
are  trying  to  do,  and  prove  to  them  the  genuine- 
ness of  interest  you  feel  in  the  success  of  your 
class.  Teachers  who  have  taught  long  and  suc- 
cessfully have  learned  to  mark  with  a  white 
stone  in  the  calendar  the  days  devoted  to  home 
counsel  with  parents. 

IV.  The  Scholar's  Friendship. 
This  is  the  social  end  of  the  teacher's  work. 
If  he  can  win  the  friendship  of  his  scholars,  his 
teaching  and  managing  will  be  a  labor  of  love. 


The  Teacher's  Week  Day  Work.  133 

He  will  no  longer  need  devices  and  methods. 
The  foundation  of  such  friendship  may  be  laid  in 
the  work  of  the  Sabbath,  but  the  week  day  con- 
tact and  fellowship  must  develop  and  perfect  it. 
A  look  of  the  eye,  a  touch  of  the  hand,  a  gra- 
cious word  and  greeting  at  every  chance  meet- 
ing of  teacher  with  scholar,  a  manifestation  of 
pride  and  confidence  in  him  at  public  gather- 
ings; inviting  him  to  one's  home  as  guest  of 
honor;  remembering  his  birthdays  and  other 
days  of  personal  interest;  sharing  his  troubles 
and  cheering  him  on  in  his  successes — in  short, 
a  constant  and  sincere  interest  in  whatever  con- 
cerns him,  on  week  day  or  Sabbath,  will  make 
him  a  true  and  faithful  friend.  Few  friend- 
ships in  life  are  as  unselfish  or  lasting.  One  who 
has  become  famous  as  a  Sunday  school  teacher 
recently  said:  "I  have  taught  many  years,  and 
have  had  much  to  do  with  troublesome  and 
bad  boys  and  girls.  The  one  method  I  used 
more  than  all  others  was  comradeship.  In  the 
home,  at  ball  and  bat,  by  the  creek  side,  on  the 
hunt,  in  the  social  gatherings,  the  worse  the 
scholar  the  more  I  distinguished  him  and  made 
him  my  companion.  As  comradeship  without 
grew  closer,  the  more  docile  and  thoughtful  be- 
came the  bad  boy  in  the  class.  The  castle  of  a 
bad  boy's  life  is  not  taken  by  storming  it,  but 
by  entering  it  as  a  guest." 


XIX.  THE  TEACHERS    MEETING. 


I.  Its  Purpose. 

The  purpose  of  the  teachers'  meeting  is  four- 
fold: 

1.  To  stimulate  study  of  the  Bible.  This  is 
needed  because  of  a  tendency  among  teachers  to 
depend  too  much  upon  "helps"  and  too  little 
upon  original  study. 

2.  To  unify  and  plan  the  lesson  teaching. 
Teachers  in  the  same  school,  with  the  same  les- 
son, sometimes  teach  wide  of  the  mark,  and 
make  prominent  the  unimportant  things  of  a 
lesson. 

3.  To  help  the  younger  teachers,  most  of  whom 
have  no  other  opportunity  of  learning  how  to 
study  and  teach. 

4.  To  use  the  corps  of  officers  and  teachers  as 
a  business  council^  in  which  the  needs  of  the  school 
may  be  discussed  and  its  work  planned.  The 
teachers'  meeting  is  the  one  place  in  which  the 
judgment  and  cooperation  of  the  teachers  may 
be  secured. 

II.  Its  Membership. 

1.  The  pastor  should  be  a  constant  attendant. 
As  "overseer  of  the  church"  he  needs,  for  the 
(134) 


The  Teachers'  Meeting.  135 

church's  sake  as  well  as  his  own,  to  keep  in 
touch  with  his  teachers.  He  ought  not  to  lead 
the  meeting. 

2 .  The  superintendent  and  his  officers  are  bound 
by  their  obligations  of  office  to  attend.  The  su- 
perintendent is  ex-officio  chairman,  and  should 
preside  over  the  meeting  and  direct  its  work. 

3.  The  teachers  are  the  chief  beneficiaries  of 
the  teachers'  meeting,  and,  if  not  providentially 
hindered,  are  without  excuse  for  non-attendance. 
The  older  and  more  experienced  the  teacher,  the 
more  he  is  under  obligation  to  serve  the  teachers' 
meeting.  On  being  appointed  to  a  class  in  a  Sun- 
day school,  every  teacher  should  be  brought  be- 
fore the  altar  of  the  church,  and  publicly  pledged 
to  attend  the  teachers'  meeting. 

4.  In  addition  to  the  regular  teachers  of  the 
school,  those  who  are  being  used  as  supply  teach- 
ers and  members  of  the  normal  class,  together 
with  such  older  scholars  as  may  be  called  in  fu- 
ture to  serve  as  officers  or  teachers  of  the  school, 
should  be  urged  to  attend.  Contact  with  the 
regular  teachers  in  a  meeting  for  study  will  often 
stimulate  these  to  prepare  for  teaching. 

III.  The  Programme. 

The  time  and  place,  though  of  minor  impor- 
tance, are  to  be  considered.  The  best  time  for 
a  teachers'  meeting  is  on  Monday  night,  or  at  a 


136  Tlie  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

time  near  to  the  beginning  of  the  week,  in  order 
to  begin  the  lesson  study  as  early  as  practicable. 
The  place  should  be  the  coziest  church  room;  if 
there  is  not  one,  then  the  home  of  a  member, 
cheery  and  central.  The  teachers'  meeting  should 
have  the  brightest  setting  possible. 

The  programme  should  be  frequently  varied. 
Heavy  theological  discussion,  or  elaboration  of 
little  things  of  Bible  study,  should  alike  be  ta- 
booed. Every  teacher  should  be  drawn  out  at 
every  session.  The  leader  should  lead  the  meet- 
ing, talk  little  himself,  and  allow  none  to  mo- 
nopolize the  time.  Two  things  should  be  made 
prominent  and  clear  at  every  meeting:  "What 
is  there  in  the  lesson  that  should  be  taught?" 
and  "How  shall  this  be  taught  to  the  several 
classes?" 

A  well-rounded  programme  for  a  teachers' 
meeting  might  profitably  include  four  distinct 
features:  the  social,  the  devotional,  the  business, 
and  the  educational.  The  social  instinct  in  Sun- 
day school  workers  needs  conserving.  It  is  not 
only  a  good  foundation  and  introduction  to  the 
other  more  important  work  of  the  meeting,  but 
it  has  in  itself  a  drawing  power,  and  will  often 
tempt  indifferent  teachers  to  attend.  Prefacing 
the  regular  session  with  a  social  half  hour,  sup- 
plementing this  when  practicable  by  a  "teach- 
ers' lunch,"  which  allows  business  men  .especial- 


The  Teachers'  Meeting.  137 

ly  to  come  straight  from  office  to  meeting,  will 
develop  a  finer  fellowship,  relieve  monotony,  and 
enhance  the  real  work  of  the  session.  A  mem- 
ber of  a  successful  teachers'  meeting  recently 
declared  that,  "after  repeated  failures,  a  little 
small  talk  and  tea  was  found  to  be  the  one  miss- 
ing link." 

After  the  social  should  follow  the  devotional, 
in  a  little  time  devoted  to  the  spiritual  life  and 
needs  of  the  teachers.  Bible  study  at  times  de- 
generates into  routine  and  professionalism.  The 
best  preparation  of  the  mind  is  by  way  of  the 
heart.  To  * '  warm  the  heart  and  clear  the  head  " 
is  the  purpose  of  this  short  season  of  devotion, 
of  which  the  keynote  is  the  teacher's  own  expe- 
rience of  the  things  of  God,  as  taught  by  way  of 
the  current  lessons  to  his  class.  The  leadership 
devotionally  may  be  alternated  among  the  teach- 
ers. 

After  the  devotional  comes  the  business  of  the 
school,  superintendent  and  teachers  constituting 
"the  cabinet."  Every  interest  of  the  school 
should  be  considered  in  turn.  Problems  of 
grading,  of  music,  of  supply  of  teachers,  of 
home  class,  and  other  department  work,  what- 
ever makes  for  the  failure  or  success  of  the 
school,  should  pass  in  review  before  the  body  of 
teachers,  a,.a  their  judgment  and  united  action 
should  >  j  secured. 


138  The  Sutiday  School  Teacher. 

After  the  business  is  the  lesson  study,  the 
most  important  work  of  the  meeting.  The  fol- 
lowing are  two  suggestive  programmes,  each  one 
hour  and  a  half  in  length: 

No.  1. 

Social  Half  Hour. 

Devotional  Service,  ten  minutes. 

Business  Council,  ten  minutes. 

The  Lesson  Study,  forty  minutes,  as  follows: 

1.  Connecting  Links. 

2.  Difficulties  of  the  Text. 

3.  Differences  of  Versions. 

4.  Parallel  Accounts  of  the  Same  Lesson. 

5.  Main  Points  to  Be  Taught  (each  teacher's 

analysis). 

6.  Illustrations  to  Be  Used  in  Teaching. 

7.  Adaptation   of  Lesson    (each    teacher's 

judgment). 

No.  2. 

Social  Half  Hour. 
Devotional  Service,  ten  minutes. 
Normal  Study  (in  course),  twenty  minutes. 
The  Lesson  Study,  thirty  minutes,  as  outlined 
in  No.  1. 

The  latter  programme  suggests  a  practical  com- 
bination of  the  teachers'  meeting  and  the  normal 
or  training  class,  by  abridging  the  time  of  the 


The  Teachers'  Meeting.  139 

social  half  hour  and  the  lesson  study  enough  to 
devote  twenty  minutes  to  a  teacher- training 
course.  The  time  thus  used  should  be  given 
not  so  much  to  study  of  the  training  course  as 
to  a  brief  review  of  such  studies  in  the  home. 

IV.  The  Teachers'  Council. 

The  fact  that  there  are  so  few  teachers'  meet- 
ings where  there  should  be  so  many,  and  that 
few  of  these  have  been  truly  successful,  makes 
it  imperative  for  the  teachers  to  have  an  alter- 
native plan  for  coming  together.  If  a  weekly 
teachers'  meeting  is  out  of  the  question,  or  if 
only  a  minority  of  the  teachers  can  attend  it,  a 
monthly  "Teachers'  Council"  combining  in  brief 
the  several  features  of  the  teachers'  meeting 
above  indicated,  is  suggested  as  a  compromise. 
Th  e  necessity  for  Sunday  school  teachers  to  hold 
stated  meetings  for  study  and  conference  war- 
rants a  compromise.  The  name  "council''' 
means  no  more  than  "teachers'  meeting,"  except 
as  a  new  name  may  be  more  attractive.  In  lead- 
ership, time,  place,  and  general  direction,  what 
has  been  said  of  the  teachers'  meeting  will  apply 
to  the  "teachers'  council."  The  several  parts 
of  the  programme — the  social,  devotional,  busi- 
ness, lesson  study — will  also  apply.  To  a  ses- 
sion holding  monthly,  two  hours'  time  should  be 
given. 


140  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

The  one  important  change  from  the  methods 
of  the  weekly  teachers'  meeting  will  be  in  the 
lesson  study  plan  of  the  monthly  "council." 
The  lessons  of  the  four  Sundays  of  the  following 
month  would  be  the  subjects  of  study.  Not  more 
than  an  hour  should  be  given  to  this  study.  The 
plan  of  study,  therefore,  divides  the  time  among 
the  four  lessons,  assigns  a  leader  to  each  lesson 
to  set  forth  its  main  points  only,  and  to  suggest 
lines  of  study  to  be  followed  in  the  home.  The 
chief  purpose  of  the  "council"  study,  under  its 
limitation  of  time,  is  to  fix  the  proper  use  and 
application  of  the  lessons  of  the  next  month  as 
they  relate  especially  to  the  needs  of  the  school. 
Yet  the  very  condensation  required  by  the  plan 
is  a  help  to  teachers  in  setting  them  at  work  to 
discover  the  pith  and  essence  of  each  lesson. 
The  methods  of  treating  the  lessons  may  be  va- 
ried to  advantage.  Teachers,  assigned  a  month 
in  advance,  may  be  required  each  to  outline  a 
lesson  in  full;  or  the  "teaching  points"  from 
the  several  lessons  in  order  may  be  drawn  out 
from  the  body  of  teachers;  or  the  teachers  may 
constitute  a  "faculty,"  each  with  a  department 
of  work.  To  one  may  be  given  for  the  month's 
lessons  the  "connecting  links;"  to  another,  the 
"difficulties  of  the  text"  to  a  third,  the  "oriental- 
isms;" and  so  on  through  the  successive  steps  of 
study.     A  suggestive  programme  of  the  teach- 


The  Teachers'  Meeting.  141 

ers'  council  may  exhibit  the  plan  of  work  more 
plainly: 

Tlie  Teachers'  Council. 

Time:  Two  Hours,  Last  Monday  Night  of  Each  Month. 

Social  Half  Hour. 

Devotional  Service,  fifteen  minutes,  led  by  teach- 
ers alternately. 

Business  of  School,  fifteen  minutes,  led  by  Su- 
perintendent. 

Preview  of  Next  Month's  Lessons,  thirty  min- 
utes, led  by  teachers  alternately. 

Additional  Teaching  Points,  ten  minutes,  by 
volunteers. 

The  Normal  Study  (in  course),  twenty  minutes- 
led  by  leader  of  training  work. 


XX.  A  TEACHER-TRAINING  DEPARTMENT. 

I.  Its  Need. 
Every  Sunday  school  needs  a  department  or 
class  in  which  those  who  are  already  teaching,  or 
are  to  become  its  teachers,  shall  be  trained  for 
their  work.  Of  many  urgent  reasons  for  such  a 
department,  the  following  are  given: 

1.  Sunday  school  teachers  need  such  training. 
To  rightly  study  or  to  teach  is  an  art  that  must 
be  learned,  as  few  are  by  nature  "born  students" 
or  * '  born  teachers. "  That  one  may  thus  learn  is 
proved  by  the  career  of  very  many  successful 
Sunday  school  teachers. 

2.  The  church  demands  it.  More  and  more  it 
is  requiring  that  the  standard  of  Sunday  school 
teaching  shall  be  raised.  The  level  of  Bible 
knowledge  and  teaching  is  being  steadily  uplift- 
ed, and  the  church  which  neglects  to  provide  for 
better  teachers  will  inevitably  fall  behind  in  pow- 
er and  influence.  The  age  demands  that  both 
preachers  and  teachers  shall  be  more  thoroughly 
equipped.  The  church  has  been  making  provi- 
sion for  the  former,  but  not  for  the  latter  class. 

3.  The  Bible  itself  deserves  it.  The  teachers 
of  no  other  text-book  are  so  little  trained  in  its 
use.     The  Bible  is  not  "  the  power  of  God  unto 

(142) 


A  Teacher- Training  Department.         143 

salvation"  in  the  hands  of  those  who  neglect  the 
best  methods  of  study  and  teaching  it.  It  ad- 
monishes us  to  "rightly  divide  the  word  of 
truth,"  and  to  become  "apt  to  teach." 

4.  The  young  people  of  the  church  are  willing 
to  be  thus  trained.  Many  of  them  would  be 
glad  to  teach  in  the  Sunday  school,  but  they 
realize  the  demands  of  the  work  and  their  in- 
ability to  do  well  what  only  a  trained  teacher 
can  do. 

II.  Its  Purpose. 

The  purpose  of  the  teacher-training  class  is 
fourfold: 

1.  To  study  systematically  the  Bible  as  a 
whole;  to  fix  its  great  truths  historically,  doc- 
trinally,  etc. ,  in  their  right  relationship  and  or- 
der, thereby  to  attain  such  general  knowledge 
of  the  Bible  as  will  enable  the  teacher  to  rightly 
comprehend  and  teach  the  special  Sunday  school 
lessons. 

2.  To  study  the  church,  as  the  one  divine  in- 
stitution among  men,  through  which  shall  be  ac- 
complished the  salvation  of  the  world ;  to  be- 
come familiar  with  its  history,  its  leaders,  its 
standards  of  doctrine,  its  forms  of  government, 
its  relationships  to  home,  to  society,  and  the 
state;  especially  to  study  one's  own  denomina- 
tion as  a  part  of  the  general  Church  of  Christ. 

3.  To  study  the  Sunday  school  as  a  great  de- 

10 


144  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

partment  of  the  church,  and  as  a  field  for  life- 
long,  fruitful  service;  to  learn  of  its  history,  de- 
velopment, and  plans,  as  no  teacher  can  do  his 
best  work  who  is  ignorant  of  the  field  in  which 
he  is  to  labor.  As  well  expect  one  to  practice 
medicine  or  law  who  is  ignorant  of  its  principles 
and  methods. 

4.  To  learn  how  to  teach.  True  teaching  is  both 
a  science  and  an  art.  It  is  a  science  in  that  it 
rests  upon  certain  well-defined  principles,  which 
must  enter  into  every  step  of  successful  teach- 
ing. It  is  an  art  to  be  learned  as  any  other  art, 
by  observation,  study,  and  practice.  Thousands 
of  young  people  in  recent  years  have  set  them- 
selves steadfastly  to  attain  some  measure  of  skill, 
in  this  noble  art.  To  know  the  Bible,  the 
church,  the  Sunday  school,  the  art  of  the  teach- 
er, are  the  four  things  that  our  teachers  must 
learn,  if  only  the  church  will  give  them  the 
means  through  which  to  learn  them. 

III.  Its  Membership. 

From  the  ranks  of  those  now  teaching,  and 
from  the  young  people's  societies  of  the  church, 
must  come  those  who  are  to  form  the  teacher- 
training  classes.  From  these  classes  will  come 
the  future  teachers  of  the  Sunday  school.  In 
every  local  society  of  young  people  will  be 
found  some  who  are  willing  to  take  up  this  train- 


A  Teacher-  Training  Department.         145 

ing  work,  if  it  is  put  plainly  and  urgently  before 
them.  Let  the  pastor  and  superintendent  pre- 
sent a  simple  and  flexible  plan  of  study  to  the 
teachers  and  young  people,  and  call  for  volun- 
teers to  form  a  training  class.  Let  them  pre- 
pare a  written  pledge  of  membership,  to  be 
signed,  as  follows: 

"The  undersigned  agree  to  form  themselves 
into  a  training  class,  for  the  purpose  of  prepar- 
ing themselves,  by  systematic  study  of  the  Bi- 
ble, the  church,  and  the  Sunday  school,  for  the 
work  of  teaching;  to  study  diligently,  as  oppor- 
tunity affords,  the  agreed  course  of  study;  to  at- 
tend regularly  the  sessions  of  the  class,  unless 
providentially  hindered;  to  continue  as  students 
of  the  class  until  duly  graduated;  after  which  to 
hold  themselves  in  readiness  at  the  call  of  the 
church  to  teach  a  Sunday  school  class. " 

The  number  in  the  class  will  have  little  to  do 
with  its  success,  if  those  who  join  it  are  truly  in 
earnest. 

IV.  Leader,  Time,  and  Place. 

1.  The  superintendent  or  pastor,  all  things 
considered,  should  be  the  best  person  to  lead  the 
class,  by  reason  of  official  obligation  as  well  as 
educational  fitness.  If  neither  can  do  so,  let 
the  best  leader  the  church  affords  be  appointed. 

2.  If  the  class  is  composed  of  young  people 


146  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

who  are  not  already  teaching  in  the  Sunday 
school,  the  best  time  is  the  regular  Sunday  school 
hour.  Let  the  class  take  its  usual  part  in  the 
opening  and  closing  exercises  of  the  school,  but 
during  the  time  of  the  lesson  study  let  it  be  ex- 
cused from  the  regular  lesson  and  confine  itself 
to  the  teacher- training  course,  under  such  a  plan 
as  the  leader  may  direct.  If  the  class  is  com- 
posed wholly  or  in  part  of  those  already  teach- 
ing in  the  school,  its  sessions  may  be  held  at  an 
hour  apart,  on  the  Sabbath  or  during  the  week. 
3.  The  place  of  the  class  is  of  minor  impor- 
tance. If  a  separate  class  room  can  be  had,  it 
will  be  best;  if  not,  locate  the  class  in  the  most 
convenient  place,  and  let  it  be  known  to  the 
school,  and  reported  each  Sabbath  by  the  secre- 
tary, as  the  l i  teacher- training  class." 

V.  The  Course  op  Study. 

1.  There  are  several  excellent  courses  for 
teacher-training,  provided  the  church  has  no 
special  course  of  its  own.  Among  these  are  the 
"Chautauqua  Normal  Course,"  Semelroth's 
"Complete  Normal  Manual,"  the  "Sunday 
School  Teachers'  Course,"  by  G.  W.  Pease,  the 
"Legion  of  Honor  Bible  and  Training  Course" 
— all  suited  chiefly  to  beginners,  and  already 
widely  used.  But  by  far  the  best  plan  is  for 
each  church  as  a  denomination,  in  view  of  tho 


A.  Teacher- Training  Department.         147 

needs  of  its  host  of  teachers,  to  put  its  official 
sanction  upon  some  one  course,  or  prepare  a 
course  of  its  own,  and  thus  unify  and  stimulate 
the  training  work  within  its  own  bounds.  To- 
gether with  such  a  course,  it  should  provide  a 
church  diploma  and  plan  of  study  leading  up  to 
graduation  and  official  recognition  of  graduates. 

2.  This  course  should  include,  in  well-propor- 
tioned and  selected  matter,  the  four  essential  ele- 
ments of  a  training  course:  The  study  of  the  Bi- 
ble, of  the  church,  of  the  Sunday  school,  of  the 
teacher  and  his  work.  To  omit  any  one  of  these 
elements  is  to  seriously  impair  the  needed  equip- 
ment of  the  teacher. 

3.  The  plan  of  study  should  include  the  study 
of  the  course  by  the  local  class,  where  organiza- 
tion into  class  is  practicable,  or  by  individual 
students,  where  there  is  not  a  class,  under  direc- 
tion of  the  superintendent;  an  adjustment  of 
study  by  class  or  student,  suited  to  local  condi- 
tions; a  final  written  examination  upon  the  sev* 
eral  parts  of  the  course  as  completed  in  order, 
based  upon  questions  prepared  and  issued  from 
the  central  directing  office  of  the  church;  a  re- 
quired standard  of  proficiency  in  examination, 
upon  which  the  diploma  and  honors  of  the 
church  shall  be  conferred. 

4.  Two  years  as  a  minimum  should  be  regard- 
ed as   sufficient  time  for  the  completion  of  a 


148  The  Swiday  /School  Teacher. 

thorough  training  course,  befitting  the  dignity 
of  a  church  and  the  equipment  of  its  teachers 
for  their  great  work.  A  diligent  use  of  spare 
moments  for  two  years  of  time  should  bring  to 
most  students  a  mastery  of  the  elements  of  the 
training  work.  A  high  standard,  although  not 
fully  attained  by  the  weaker  students,  is  better 
than  a  low  standard  which  offers  little  or  no  in- 
centive to  the  better  class  of  students.  "A  little 
learning  is  a  dangerous  thing." 

5.  In  order  to  stimulate  its  training  work,  and 
to  spur  the  class  or  individual  student  on  to 
graduation  and  recognition,  whenever  the  course 
of  study  is  completed  the  church  should  encour- 
age and  plan  for  a  graduating  service,  to  be  con- 
ducted on  the  Sabbath  day,  in  the  local  church, 
with  fitting  accessories  of  music,  decoration,  ad- 
dresses, and  conferment  of  church  diploma  and 
honors. 


XXI.  A  TEACHERS'  INSTALLATION 
SERVICE. 

Explanatory. 

1.  The  formal  installation  of  the  officers  and 
teachers  elect  of*  the  Sunday  school  should  gen- 
erally obtain.  It  is  more  than  a  matter  of  form. 
Impressively  conducted,  it  becomes  one  of  the 
most  profitable  services  of  the  Sunday  school 
year.  It  dignifies  the  calling  of  the  teacher, 
and  sets  before  him  the  duties  and  responsibili- 
ties of  his  holy  office.  It  calls  the  attention  of 
the  church  to  its  faithful  and  often  unrecognized 
servants  who  have  the  care  of  its  children  and 
youth.  It  honors  the  officers  and  teachers  in  the 
presence  of  the  scholars  as  well  as  of  their  par- 
ents. Best  of  all,  it  reminds  the  newly  chosen 
corps  of  certain  obligations  pertaining  to  their 
offices,  and  puts  them  under  solemn  covenant  to 
discharge  them. 

2.  An  " installation  service"  may  be  simple, 
yet  impressive  and  beautiful.  The  best  time  for 
it  is  Sunday  night,  following  the  annual  election 
of  the  officers  and  teachers  of  the  corps.  The 
pastor  might  profitably  give  the  entire  evening 
to  it,  calling  to  his  assistance  the  officers  of  the , 
church.     A  full  attendance  of  the  membership 

(149) 


150  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

should  be  urged,  and  the  Sunday  school  should  be 
seated  in  a  body  at  the  front.  Music  and  flowers, 
and  whatever  may  enhance  the  occasion,  should 
be  provided.  The  installing  officer  should  be 
the  pastor  himself  or  some  officer  of  the  church 
selected  by  him.  The  pastor  should  be  the  pre- 
siding officer  of  the  evening,  and,  with  other  of- 
ficers of  the  church,  should  be  seated  on  the 
platform.  A  neat,  printed  programme,  contain- 
ing an  outline  (as  given  below)  of  the  installation 
service,  including  the  names  of  the  officers  and 
teachers  elect,  would  be  helpful  and  well  worth 
the  cost  of  providing  copies  of  it  for  the  congre- 
gation. By  this  means  parts  of  the  service  could 
be  entered  into  responsively  by  the  congregation, 
and  the  service  made  more  effective. 

The  following  order  of  installation  was  used 
by  the  writer  in  his  Sunday  school  work  for  many 
years: 

Installation  Service. 

1.  Opening  Hymn:  "My  faith  looks  up  to 
thee." 

2.  Reading  the  Roll  of  Officers  and  Teac/iers 
Elect. 

3.  Hymn:  "Stand  up,  stand  up  for  Jesus." 
(During  the  singing  the  officers  and  teachers 
come  forward  to  seats  reserved  in  front.) 

4.  Prayer,  by  the  pastor. 


A  Teacher's  Installation  Service.  151 

5.  Admonitory  Scripture  Readings:  1  Corin- 
thians xii.  4-12;  2  Timothy  ii.  14-21.  Led  by  pas- 
tor, or  by  an  officer  of  the  church  appointed  by 
him.  (The  reading  will  be  more  effective  if  read 
responsively  by  leader  and  congregation,  or  by 
leader  and  teachers  elect.) 

6.  Questions  to  the  Officers  and  Teachers  Electa 
by  the  pastor  or  installing  officer  (the  officers 
and  teachers  standing,  and  making  formal  an- 
swer). 

(a)  Do  you  freely  accept  the  position  as  officer 
or  teacher  to  which  the  church  has  called  you? 

(b)  Will  you  endeavor  faithfully  to  discharge 
the  duties  pertaining  to  it? 

(c)  Will  you  strive  earnestly  to  set  before  your 
scholars  a  good  Christian  example  in  all  things? 

(d)  Will  you  give  diligence  to  Bible  study  and 
preparation  for  teaching,  as  opportunity  allows? 

(e)  Will  you  faithfully  attend  the  "teachers' 
meeting,"  and  such  other  meetings  as  may  be 
convened  by  the  superintendent,  unless  provi- 
dentially hindered? 

These  or  other  questions,  setting  forth  the  du- 
ties to  be  met,  should  be  asked. 

7.  The  Covenant  of  Office  (the  pastor  or  in- 
stalling officer  reading  it  clause  by  clause;  the 
officers  and  teachers  repeating  it  after  him): 

"  I  do  solemnly  devote  myself,  in  the  fear  and 
by  the  favor  of  God.  to  my  Sunday  school  work. 


152  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

I  will  study  my  Bible  thoroughly,  and  strive  to 
govern  and  to  teach  my  scholars  intelligently 
and  faithfully.  I  will  endeavor  to  be  a  loyal 
and  exemplary  member  of  my  Church,  and  an 
example  to  my  scholars  in  the  use  of  the  means 
of  grace.  I  will  counsel  spiritually  with  my 
scholars  at  home  and  elsewhere,  and  will  give 
such  portion  of  my  time  as  is  possible  to  my 
Sunday  school  duties.  I  will  strive  to  be  punc- 
tual and  present  at  school  and  at  all  meetings  of 
teachers.  In  the  presence  of  God  and  his  peo- 
ple, and  by  the  grace  of  Jesus  Christ.  Amen." 
Benediction  by  Congregation: 

"The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee: 

The  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gra- 
cious unto  thee: 

The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon  thee,  and  give 
thee  peace." 

8.  Brief  Address,  by  pastor  cr  some  invited 
one. 

9.  Closing  Hymn:    "I  love  thy  Church,   O 
God," 


XXII.  A  SUNDAY  SCHOOL  TEACHER'S 
LIBRARY. 

In  addition  to  the  Sunday  school  helps  for 
study  and  teaching  supplied  periodically  by  his 
own  church,  every  teacher  should  become  pos- 
sessor of  a  "teachers'  library."  This  may  con- 
sist of  few  or  many  books,  but  whatever  enters 
into  it  should  be  carefully  selected  and  of  per- 
manent value.  Many  books  in  recent  years  have 
issued  from  the  press  that  bear  upon  the  teach- 
er's work,  some  of  which  will  survive,  while 
others  will  be  soon  forgotten.  Many  Sunday 
schools  are  casting  about  for  good  books,  to 
derve  as  a  "normal"  or  teacher's  library,  some- 
thing which  every  school  should  possess  for  the 
use  of  teachers,  officers,  and  older  scholars  who 
are  trying  to  fit  themselves  for  better  work,  but 
are  unable  to  purchase  for  themselves. 

Below  are  given  two  lists  of  books  which  have 
been  tried  and  approved.  The  first  list  is  care- 
fully chosen  and  classified,  and  contains  books 
designed  for  general  or  interdenominational  use. 
It  includes  a  nearly  complete  though  small 
"teacher's  library."  The  second  list  is  not 
classified,    but   the   titles   will    indicate  fairly 

(153) 


154  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

their  contents.  Any  book  from  either  list  will 
be  found  modern  and  helpful.  If  not  on  sale 
locally,  the  books  may  be  ordered  through  the 
several  denominational  publishing  houses.  Such 
prices  as  are  given  have  been  taken  from  pub- 
lishers' lists,  and  include  postage  for  mailing. 

A  Teacher's  Library. 

Best  Commentary  on  Entire  Bible. — Jamieson, 
Fausset,  and  Brown's,  four  volumes;  price  $8. 

Best  Bible  Dictionary. — Smith's  Abridged, 
""Workers'  Edition;"  price  $1. 

Best  Boohs  on  Sunday  School. — Trumbull's 
"Yale  Lectures  on  the  Sunday  School,"  price 
$2;  Vincent's  "Modern  Sunday  School,"  price 
90  cents;  Cunnyngham's  "History  of  Sunday 
Schools,"  price  50  cents;  Schauffler's  "Ways  of 
Working,"  price  $1. 

Best  Books  on  Teaching. — Trumbull's  "Teach- 
ing and  Teachers,"  price  $1.25;  Wells's  "Sun- 
day School  Success,"  price  $1;  Gregory's  "Seven 
Laws  of  Teaching,"  price  50  cents. 

Best  Primary  Books. — Black's  "Practical  Pri- 
mary Plans,"  price  $1;  Dubois's  "Pointcf  Con- 
tact," price  60  cents;  Mrs.  Crafts' s  "Optn  Let- 
ters to  Primary  Teachers,"  price  50  cents. 

Best  Teac/ur-  Training  Courses.  — Hurlbut's 
"Revised  Normal  Outlines,"  price  40  cents; 
Dunning's    "Bible   Studies,"    price    40    cents* 


A  Sunday  School  Teacher's  Library.      155 

Pease's  "Normal  Course,"  two  books  (in  paper), 
price  25  cents  each;  Semelroth's  "Complete 
Manual"  (in  paper),  price  25  cents;  Hamill's 
"Legion  of  Honor  Course,"  two  books  (in  pa- 
per), 25  cents  for  both. 

A  General  List. 

< <  Manual  of  Sunday  School  Methods  "  (Foster), 
65  cents;  "Handbook  on  Sunday  School  Work" 
(Peters),  60  cents;  "On  Teaching"  (Alden),  35 
cents;  "The  Sunday  School  Teacher's  Work" 
(Gordon),  30  cents;  "The  Librarian  of  the  Sunday 
School"  (Foote),  35  cents;  "Sunday  School  Out- 
lines and  Normal  Studies"  (Tucker),  50  cents; 
"Kindergarten  of  the  Church"  (Miss  Foster), 
$1;  "The  Model  Sunday  School"  (Boynton), 
35  cents;  "Graded  Sunday  Schools"  (Hurlbut), 
50  cents;  "Sunday  School  Supplemental  Stud- 
ies" (Hurlbut),  40  cents;  "Bible  Dictionary" 
(Schaff),  $1:25;  "People's  Bible  Dictionary" 
(Rice),  30  cents;  "Biblical  Antiquities"  (Bis- 
sell),  $1.33;  "Life  and  Epistles  of  St.  Paul" 
(Conybeare  and Howson),  $1.50;  Riddle's  "Rob- 
inson's Harmony  of  the  Gospels,"  $1.50;  "Out- 
lines of  Bible  History"  (Hurst),  40  cents;  "Pic- 
tured Truth,"  for  blackboard  use  (Pierce),  $1.25; 
"Life  and  Times  of  Jesus"  (Edersheim),  $2; 
"Bible  Manners  and  Customs"  (Mackie),  $1; 
'Holy  Land  in  Geography  and  History"  (Mac- 


156  The  Sunday  School  Teacher. 

Coun),  82;  "Church  History"  (Hurst),  40  cents; 
1 '  Growth  of  English  Bible  "  (Lovett),  $1 .  20 ;  "  Old 
Testament  Heroes"  (Meyer),  per  volume,  $1; 
"Supplemental  Bible  Question  Course"  (Smith), 
40  cents;  "Miracles  of  Our  Lord"  (Trench), 
$1.25;  "Parables  of  Our  Lord"  (Trench),  $1.25; 
"Parables  of  Our  Lord"  (Dods),  $1.50;  "Life 
of  Christ"  (Stalker),  60  cents;  "Life  of  St. 
Paul"  (Stalker),  60  cents;  "Modern  Reader's 
Bible"  (Moulton),  per  volume,  50 cents;  "Cam- 
bridge Bible  for  Schools  and  Colleges,"  per 
volume,  from  60  cents  to  $1.50.  Send  for  price 
list. 


Date  Due 

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Princeton  Theological  Semmary-Spee 


1    1012  01035  4100 


